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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 28 Sep. - 4 Oct. 2000 Issue No. 501 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 28 Sep. - 4 Oct. 2000 Issue No. 501
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters NGO case un-closed
By Jailan Halawi
Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel-Wahed announced on Sunday that Saadeddin Ibrahim, director of the Ibn Khaldun Centre for Developmental Studies, will stand trial, along with 27 of his associates, at a Supreme State Security Court. Ibrahim, also a professor of sociology at the American University in Cairo (AUC), is charged with receiving foreign funding without government authorisation with the intent to harm Egypt's good name.
Saadeddin Ibrahim
The 27 associates, 10 of whom are at large, are mainly employees at the Ibn Khaldun Centre and Women's Voters Support Centre, an affiliate of Ibn Khaldun. They face accusations of attempting to embezzle money and making plans to bribe government employees at the radio and television stations to broadcast propaganda for the Ibn Khaldun Centre.
Sudanese national Nadia Abdel-Nour, the centre's financial director, was arrested on 30 June along with Ibrahim, who was remanded in custody for 45 days. The two were released on bail last month. Other suspects include a man accused of helping Ibrahim forge voter-registration cards and a police officer who allegedly received bribes and forged official documents.
The decision to put Ibrahim on trial comes amidst a campaign against him in some national newspapers. No date for the State Security trial has been set, but observers believe that hearings are imminent. Charges against Ibrahim include receiving foreign payment for preparing reports on the internal situation in Egypt, receiving bribes from foreign donors, embezzlement and forgery. More specifically, Abdel-Wahed charged Ibrahim with receiving $237,500 in illegal funds from the European Union to finance a documentary on participation in parliamentary elections that was considered to be "harmful to Egypt's name."
The Ibn Khaldun Centre is a key participant in a non-governmental commission to monitor forthcoming parliamentary elections, due to begin on 18 October. Ibrahim has said that his arrest was due to his discovery of widespread abuses during the last elections of 1995. On Monday Ibrahim said the prosecutor's charges were prompted by his decision to set up a committee to monitor the parliamentary elections. The committee, made up mostly of students and human rights activists, became active last Thursday, the day the government started registering candidates for the elections.
Officials say Ibrahim violated military order No. 4 of 1992, which prohibits receiving money from foreign bodies without authorisation. Ibrahim is further accused of embezzling the funds after receiving them.
Ibrahim, who holds US citizenship in addition to being an Egyptian national, faces up to life imprisonment if found guilty of the charges against him.
Related stories:
Free at last 17 - 23 August 2000
Waiting on the facts 10 - 16 August 2000
Piling up the charges 20 - 26 July 2000
No need for panic? 20 - 26 July 2000
Off the books 20 - 26 July 2000
The burden of proof 13 - 19 July 2000
Prominent NGO figure arrested 6 - 12 July 2000
