Egypt on Wednesday blasted the UN chief for calling for a fair trial for two prominent rights activists accused of illegally receiving foreign funds for their NGOs, in the latest sign of Egypt’s growing impatience with criticism of its human rights record.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement that comments by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon were an attempt to intimidate Egypt’s judiciary and meddle in its affairs.
A spokesman for Ban said in a statement late Tuesday that he was “following closely” the government’s legal case against NGOs over the foreign funds issue and that the two activists — Gamal Eid and Hossam Bahgat — should “benefit from all due process and fair trial standards.”
Eid and Bahgat appeared Wednesday before a criminal court in Cairo that was to decide whether to freeze their assets. During a brief hearing, defense lawyers for the two men submitted bank statements that Eid said showed none of the foreign funds they had received had been placed in their personal bank accounts.
Eid is the founder and director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information. Bahgat, founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, is among Egypt’s most prominent investigative journalists.
The case against Eid and Bahgat is part of a wider legal drive by authorities against NGOs over the issue of foreign funding. The legal proceedings began in 2011 and became dormant for a few years, but were recently revived.
The question of Egypt’s human rights record figured prominently during a visit this week to Egypt by French President Francois Hollande, whose country is a key foreign backer of El-Sisi’s government with multi-billion dollar investments and arms sales.
“Here, we are safeguarding 90 million people who must live,” El-Sisi said in reply to a reporter’s question during a joint news conference with Hollande. Then, in a stern warning, he added: “You have no idea what will happen to the region and to Europe if this nation collapses. We do not ignore human rights, but you must know that there are evil powers that work toward giving a negative impression about what is going on in Egypt.”
Source: Arab News