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U.S.-Egyptian scholar sent to prison in retrial
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CAIRO An Egyptian-American academic was convicted a second time Monday of tarnishing Egypt's image and other charges and was sentenced to seven years in prison. The United States and Amnesty International criticized the verdict.
Saad Eddin Ibrahim, 63, a sociology professor at the American University in Cairo who holds dual U.S. and Egyptian citizenship, said he would appeal one more time. "I am as determined to fight on as ever for freedom and democracy and pay whatever it takes," he said after the verdict was announced.
Ibrahim, an outspoken advocate of human rights and democracy, was sentenced last year to seven years for embezzlement, receiving foreign funds without authorization and tarnishing Egypt's image. An appeals court ordered a retrial, which began April 27 and ended with Monday's verdict. The U.S. chargé d'affaires in Cairo, Gordon Gray, issued a statement expressing "disappointment" at the verdict and reiterating U.S. concerns about the "fairness of the process" against Ibrahim.
Egypt is a close U.S. ally. Washington looks to Cairo as an important Arab voice of moderation in the Arab-Israeli confrontation, but has occasionally chided Egypt for its poor human rights record. Human rights organizations have said the case against Ibrahim was aimed at limiting political debate in Egypt.
At the heart of the case against Ibrahim were democracy-building grants totaling about $250,000 that his Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies received from the European Union. The grants included money to monitor and encourage participation in Egypt's legislative elections in 2000.
In his closing arguments last week, Sameh Seif, a prosecutor, told the State Security Court that Ibrahim was using funds raised through his organization for personal gain and had lured his staff into an embezzlement scheme.
Amnesty International "strongly condemns" Monday's verdict and the trial, Sara Hamood, a London-based Amnesty official, said by telephone.
Negad Borai, a leading Egyptian lawyer and political reform advocate, said the verdict revealed "that Egyptian laws are autocratic by nature."
Ibrahim's American-born wife, Barbara, called Monday "the saddest day for Egypt that I have seen in the 27 years I lived in this country."
Twenty-seven co-defendants, all staff members of the Ibn Khaldun Center, were convicted of bribery and fraud charges. All but three received one-year suspended sentences, similar to those they had received in the first trial. Three others were sentenced to serve up to three years in prison.
Saad Eddin Ibrahim, 63, a sociology professor at the American University in Cairo who holds dual U.S. and Egyptian citizenship, said he would appeal one more time. "I am as determined to fight on as ever for freedom and democracy and pay whatever it takes," he said after the verdict was announced.
Ibrahim, an outspoken advocate of human rights and democracy, was sentenced last year to seven years for embezzlement, receiving foreign funds without authorization and tarnishing Egypt's image. An appeals court ordered a retrial, which began April 27 and ended with Monday's verdict. The U.S. chargé d'affaires in Cairo, Gordon Gray, issued a statement expressing "disappointment" at the verdict and reiterating U.S. concerns about the "fairness of the process" against Ibrahim.
Egypt is a close U.S. ally. Washington looks to Cairo as an important Arab voice of moderation in the Arab-Israeli confrontation, but has occasionally chided Egypt for its poor human rights record. Human rights organizations have said the case against Ibrahim was aimed at limiting political debate in Egypt.
At the heart of the case against Ibrahim were democracy-building grants totaling about $250,000 that his Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies received from the European Union. The grants included money to monitor and encourage participation in Egypt's legislative elections in 2000.
In his closing arguments last week, Sameh Seif, a prosecutor, told the State Security Court that Ibrahim was using funds raised through his organization for personal gain and had lured his staff into an embezzlement scheme.
Amnesty International "strongly condemns" Monday's verdict and the trial, Sara Hamood, a London-based Amnesty official, said by telephone.
Negad Borai, a leading Egyptian lawyer and political reform advocate, said the verdict revealed "that Egyptian laws are autocratic by nature."
Ibrahim's American-born wife, Barbara, called Monday "the saddest day for Egypt that I have seen in the 27 years I lived in this country."
Twenty-seven co-defendants, all staff members of the Ibn Khaldun Center, were convicted of bribery and fraud charges. All but three received one-year suspended sentences, similar to those they had received in the first trial. Three others were sentenced to serve up to three years in prison.
