25 - 31 January 2001
Issue No.518
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 25 - 31 January 2001 Issue No.518 |
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Who's who at Ibrahim's trial
Cairo's State Security Court decided on Sunday to adjourn until 17 February the trial of Saadeddin Ibrahim, sociology professor at the American University in Cairo and head of the Ibn Khaldoun Centre for Developmental Studies (ICDS), and 27 of his associates.
Ibrahim inside the cage, his American wife Barbara sitting outside
The decision was taken by Judge Mohamed Abdel-Gayed Shalabi after two consecutive sessions heard the testimony of seven defence witnesses chosen from among more than 100 public figures who volunteered to testify.
The witnesses testified to the great worth of Ibrahim's work in the field of social research.
After taking the oath, Ahmed Kamal Abul-Magd, a law professor at Cairo University who has known Ibrahim for 35 years, called Ibrahim a first class researcher and "an extremist patriot." Answering a question from the podium, Abul-Magd said that although members of the ICDS's board of trustees did not interfere with administrative and financial matters, they could still evaluate activities. "Had we noticed any irregularities, we would have quit," Abul-Magd said.
Said El-Naggar, a prominent economist and head of the New Civic Forum, broke down and wept while addressing the court. He described his sorrow at "watching a scholar as honest and sincere as Ibrahim standing in a cage like a criminal."
"As a colleague who worked in the field of democracy and human rights for 15 years, I never doubted Ibrahim's academic efficiency, financial integrity and courage," El-Naggar told the court.
The ICDS is a non-profit organisation for the development of society which receives funding for research and preparation of reports. The prosecution alleges that in three raids on the ICDS, police seized thousands of forged electoral voting cards which they say were to be used to obtain money allocated by the European Commission to fund Third World civic rights programmes. Ibrahim denies any connection with the forgeries.
Ibrahim and his co-defendants are also accused of attempting to tarnish Egypt's good name, accepting foreign funds without government permission, embezzling money and planning to bribe employees at state radio and television to run programmes about the ICDS.
Ibrahim's lawyers believe he was prosecuted because his research reports accused the government of rigging the 1995 parliamentary elections. Before his arrest, Ibrahim was preparing a group of students and researchers to monitor last October's elections.
El-Naggar, as secretary-general of the committee that issued the ICDS report on the 1995 elections, described the report as "just and fair" and insisted that it did not include phrases defamatory to Egypt.
Deputy director of the World Bank Ibrahim Shehata said that while in the United States he had been surprised by the news of Ibrahim's arrest. Ibrahim has an American passport in addition to his Egyptian one, and Shehata told the court that American newspapers described Ibrahim's trial as a development that "harms Egypt's reputation."
Another witness, Abdel-Moneim Said, director of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies and a member of the board of trustees, testified that Ibrahim had not accused the government of rigging the elections but "only mentioned abuses" in the electoral process. Said further denied that Ibrahim had claimed Copts suffered persecution, declaring that he had only "expressed concern."
Evaluating Ibrahim's research, Said asserted that, contrary to the accusations, "the outcome of Ibrahim's research can only be described as reflecting an optimistic image of Egypt."
Said gave as an example one of Ibrahim's reports concerning fundamentalist groups, in which Ibrahim had said the issue raised "concerns" but not "fears," describing Egypt as a "strong and balanced nation with a highly efficient army and police ensuring its ability to contain the crisis."
Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, Ibrahim's wife, Barbra, said it was not a secret that he received funds. "He has been paying taxes for 12 years. The authorities audited the budget and gave him a clean bill. Why are they complaining now?" she asked.
A prominent social science scholar, who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity, described the accusations against Ibrahim as "nonsense" and said they reflected "a lack of understanding of the need for social research."
The scholar speculated that the objective behind Ibrahim's trial was "to scare away people from working in the field of social research."
Hania Mufti, Middle East director of Human Rights Watch, described the accusations as "politically motivated" and said they were intended to halt the activities of the ICDS and the Women's Voter Support Centre (HODA), an affiliate of the ICDS.
"Owing to pre-trial irregularities, some of the information which was obtained at that stage may be used as evidence by the prosecution, which does not guarantee a fair trial and is certainly not in conformity with international standards," Mufti said. "Contrary to international standards for a fair trial, Egyptian law does not allow for a full review before a higher tribunal of the case of any person convicted in this court.".
There can be no appeal against verdicts of state security courts, which can only be challenged before the Court of Cassation on procedural grounds, and not on substance.
"We feel the case is not only about the ICDS; this is part of a wider blow against human rights organisations in Egypt to prevent them from carrying out their activities," she said.
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