Al-Ahram Weekly | Egypt

		Al-Ahram Weekly Online 27 Dec. 2001 - 2 Jan. 2002 Issue No.566
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Keeping tabs

EGYPTIAN authorities took their first step towards gaining precise information on Egyptian citizens detained in the United States in connection with the 11 September attacks. The Egyptian Embassy in the US has given American authorities a list of 74 Egyptians, all detained since 11 September, in order to confirm the 21 individuals who have either been released or deported, Egyptian Ambassador to the US Nabil Fahmi said.
As for the remaining individuals, "the Egyptian Embassy has asked for complete information about the remaining names on that list with regards to where they are being detained, the crimes that they are accused of, and the [possibilities for] their rapid release," Fahmi said on Sunday. The US authorities have promised Fahmithat they will work on providing the embassy with the necessary information. In the meantime, however, US authorities have assured Fahmi that the detainees have been notified of their rights, including the right to be provided with translators.
Militants deported

ON TUESDAY 18 December, Sweden deported two Egyptians after rejecting their asylum requests on the grounds that they are suspected of committing "terrorist acts" in Egypt. Ahmed Egeiza, 39, and Mohamed Ibrahim Soliman, 40, were denied asylum after the Swedish intelligence, Saepo, announced that both men "held leading positions in an organisation suspected of carrying out terrorist attacks in Egypt," Gun-Britt Andersson, Swedish state secretary for development cooperation and migration policy, said.
Egeiza and Soliman are reportedly on Egypt's most-wanted terrorist list for their alleged role in the 1998 Luxor massacre that left 58 tourists and four Egyptians dead. Furthermore, Egeiza was sentenced to life in prison in absentia for a series of attacks.
The return of El-Filali

DURING the third session of the state security court retrial of 35-year-old engineer Sherif El- Filali, accused of spying for Israel, the defence requested that the court terminate hearings until the Supreme Constitutional Court rules on three cases filed by the defendant in relation to the retrial. The cases contest article 82B of the penal code, which governs criminal complicity. A fourth hearing was scheduled for today, however.
El-Filali was arrested in September last year and held in prison until June, when he was acquitted by a state security court. Even though the judge maintained that El-Filali was involved in spying for Israel, he was freed because he had voluntarily informed the Egyptian intelligence of his activities. El-Filali spent only a few weeks at his family's residence before he was arrested once again to stand a retrial.
Since El-Filali was being tried under the Emergency Law, in force since 1981, the judgement passed against him had to be ratified by the office of the president. The state security prosecution advised the president to refrain from ratifying the judgement and order a re-trial by a different circuit court. According to the same Emergency Law, convicts cannot appeal the sentences passed against them, but can only ask for clemency. Security sources denied that El-Filali confessed to all his crimes during interrogation by prosecutors and said they suspected he wanted to work as a double agent.
Lighter sentence

THE CAIRO appeals court for minors reduced the sentence of 17-year-old Mahmoud Abdel- Fattah from three years to six months imprisonment for "debauchery with men." Abdel- Fattah will spend an additional six months on probation. The court decision, handed down on 19 December, means his sentence has already been served.
Abdel-Fattah was arrested with 52 other men in connection with the 11 May arrests on a floating restaurant in the upper class district of Zamalek. An emergency state security court on 14 November condemned 23 of the accused to prison sentences of up to five years for "debauchery" and "contempt of religion," and acquitted 29 others.
Guilty or framed?

ACTRESS Wafaa Mekki faced a short trial this week in the Shebin El-Kom criminal court. A ruling was expected to be given on Wednesday, only the second hearing of the trial, which opened on Saturday.
Prosecutors charged Mekki with torturing and sexually molesting her teenage maid, Marwa Abdel-Hamid, burning and bruising her severely on various parts of her body. Mekki is also accused of detaining Abdel-Hamid and her sister, Hanadi (also her maid), in her apartment. Mekki's mother is facing similar charges.
According to prosecutors, Abdel-Hamid was driven to a spot near the railway station of her hometown of Qweissna, in the Nile Delta, and abandoned there by Mekki's cousin and fellow actor Ahmed El-Borei, who is also on trial. Meanwhile Hanadi was still working for Mekki. She remained in her service until the girls' family found Abdel-Hamid and ordered Hanadi to leave her job.
Mekki and her mother were on the run for 18 days until police caught up with them in an ambush on the Cairo-Alexandria highway at the beginning of November. Mekki was hiding in an apartment rented for her by her ex- husband, who was being sought by police on fraud charges. Mekki denied the accusations, claiming that the girl's family caused the injuries, but the maid insisted that they were the work of Mekki.
Two doctors summoned by Mekki to provide the maid with medical treatment before she was dumped by Mekki's associates in her hometown testified that the maid did not ask for their help and said she had not accused Mekki of causing the injuries. Prosecutors requested on Saturday that the doctors also be tried.
Mekki's lawyers deny Abdel-Hamid's accusations, claiming that the burns on her body were caused by her father. Abdel-Hamid's lawyers counter that Mekki and her mother tortured Abdel-Hamid because she had seen Mekki in a compromising position with a man.
Compiled by Shaden Shehab

Recommend this page

© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved

weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg