'Conviction unsound'
Saadeddin Ibrahim has been released and a second re-trial ordered, reports Jailan Halawi
Saadeddin Ibrahim
photo: Salah Ibrahim
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On Tuesday the Court of Cassation, during its first hearing, not only approved the second appeal against the sentencing of prominent human rights activist Saadeddin Ibrahim, but within hours of its ruling ordered his release from prison. The ruling overturned the conviction against Ibrahim, sentenced in July to seven years imprisonment following a re- trial on charges that include tarnishing Egypt's image.
The second re-trial is scheduled for 7 January 2003.
In a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly shortly after his release, Ibrahim described his first reaction to the verdict as one of disbelief. "Of course I am happy to be free, but although I am at home sitting around my family I feel stunned and not sure I am home yet." Ibrahim added that he had not expected things to move so fast, especially given that the Court of Cassation had postponed its verdict in many cases over the past weeks.
Tuesday's decision marked the second time in less than a year that the Court of Cassation has overruled a State Security Court conviction of Ibrahim and 27 of his co-defendants on charges of accepting foreign funds without government permission, embezzling those funds and spreading false rumours about Egypt.
Under Egyptian law a third trial on the same charges must now be heard by the Court of Cassation itself, in which it [the court] will consider the merits of the state's charges against Ibrahim and the others. If found guilty Ibrahim cannot re-appeal and the verdict will be final.
"I am optimistic", said Ibrahim. "I have been tried four times, twice by a State Security Court that convicted me, twice by the Court of Cassation, which gave me my freedom."
Ibrahim, who turned 64 on the day of his release, holds dual Egyptian-American citizenship, is the director of the Ibn Khaldun Centre for Developmental Studies (ICDS), an outspoken human rights activist and professor of Sociology at the American University in Cairo. He was arrested in June 2000 along with 27 colleagues, the majority ICDS employees. They were convicted in May 2001 [first trial] to prison terms ranging from one to seven years, with Ibrahim receiving the harshest sentence. A re-trial after the first appeal ended in July confirming Ibrahim's seven year sentence. Three other defendants received prison terms of between two to three years while the remaining 24 received suspended sentences and were released.
Ibrahim's is one of the highest profile trials of recent years. Representatives from international human rights groups as well as diplomats from Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Australia, Holland, Canada, the United Kingdom and the US attended the hearing.
Earlier on Tuesday, in a courtroom packed with Ibrahim's family, supporters and a horde of journalists, the verdict was met with applause.
"This is a wonderful day for me, my husband, all Egyptians," said Ibrahim's wife, Barbara. "It is a victory for justice in this country." She added, that "today's ruling is a wonderful birthday present... it gives the family the chance to rejoice and celebrate the upcoming Eid and Christmas celebrations."
Ibrahim's sentencing had caused concern in Washington, which protested against a conviction which human rights groups insisted was an attempt to muzzle civil society. Egypt defended the independence of the judiciary and said the case should not be turned into a political issue.
Following Tuesday's verdict, the US Embassy in Cairo issued a statement saying, "we hope these judicial proceedings will conclude expeditiously...and hope that Dr Ibrahim can now receive the medical care he needs."
A British diplomat said: "We are naturally pleased that the court accepted his appeal and granted a re-trial and we're looking forward to the next steps".
David Danzig, of the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights (LCHR), a US-based organisation, said the ruling strengthened his faith in the Egyptian legal system. "One hopes that all of Egypt is listening, including the State Security Courts," he said.
In a statement issued by the LCHR Neil Hicks, an expert on Egypt who has followed the case since Ibrahim's initial arrest in June 2000, said: "A swift judicial resolution to this matter will do much to restore the faith of the international community in the independence of Egypt's judicial system."
Joe Stork, Washington director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch argued "the outcome of the appeal confirms that the trial was unfair and the verdict unsound.... These trials were politically motivated from the outset and riddled with procedural irregularities. They should never have taken place".
For the moment at least Ibrahim's priorities are to "concentrate on my family, health and the case". As a family, he said, they now needed some time together away from phone calls and visits. "The plan is to whisk away to my village in Beddien, Daqahliya to spend the first days of Eid with my family."
