Human Rights First: Saad Eddin Ibrahim Acquitted: Human Rights First Welcomes Positive Verdict

Egypts highest criminal court, the Court of Cassation, today acquitted renowned social activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim and two of his co-defendants, Mohammed Hassanein and Nadia Ahmed Abd el Nour, of all charges in a case that began with Dr. Ibrahims detention from his home on a summer evening almost three years ago, on June 30, 2000. A fourth defendant, Magda el Beh, received a six month suspended prison term, and will not be returned to prison.
This is a very positive verdict, said Neil Hicks, director of Human Rights Firsts Middle East initiative. It will provide hope to independent activists in Egypt that the judiciary can still uphold the basic rights and freedoms they need in order to carry out their work.
At a court hearing on February 4, 2003, Ibrahims lawyers had systematically refuted the prosecutions charges that Ibrahim and his colleagues from the research and advocacy center that he directed, the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies, had been involved in fraud, in publishing false information to tarnish Egypts reputation or had received foreign donations without permission. The prosecution offered few arguments to support its case, leaving the defense hopeful that the court would rule in its favor. Nevertheless, the acquittal of all the Ibn Khaldoun staff members comes as a great relief, given the troubling rumors of political manipulation of the judiciary that have swirled around the case.
This prosecution should never have happened, said Hicks. It has done great damage to Dr. Ibrahim and his co-defendants, to the work of the Ibn Khaldoun Center that has been closed since June 2000, and to the Egyptian human rights movement as a whole. Targeting such a prominent activist as Dr. Ibrahim sent a chilling message to every activist and every independent thinker in Egypt.
At this time of great uncertainty in the region, the Arab world needs more than ever for its independent human rights defenders, like Saad Eddin Ibrahim, to be free from state interference and persecution, said Hicks. If democracy and human rights are to prosper in the region, these courageous individuals must be given the opportunity to promote their ideals, and to organize to protect human rights for all.
Human Rights First awarded Dr. Ibrahim its Annual Human Rights Award in October 2002. Dr. Ibrahim was in jail at the time and his wife, Barbara Ibrahim, accepted the award on his behalf.