An Egyptian court convicted 43 Americans, Europeans, Egyptians and other Arabs on Tuesday in a case against democracy promotion groups that plunged US-Egyptian ties into their worst crisis in decades.
Judge Makram Awad gave five-year sentences to 27 defendants tried in absentia, including 15 US citizens. Another American who stayed for the trial was given a two-year sentence, but left Egypt on Tuesday on the advice of his lawyers. A German woman was also given a two-year sentence.
US Secretary of State John Kerry harshly criticized the decision, calling it “incompatible with the transition to democracy” and a violation of the government’s commitment to support civil society as it emerges from years of authoritarian rule by former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, a close US ally.
The Egyptian investigation focused on charges that the groups were operating without necessary approvals and had received funds from abroad illegally. Eleven Egyptians who faced lesser charges were handed one-year suspended sentences.
Beginning in late 2011, Egypt’s crackdown on organizations that included US-based groups linked to the US’ two main political parties caused outrage in Washington, which supplies Cairo with US$1.3 billion in military aid each year.
The court ordered the closure of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the case, including the US-based International Republican Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Freedom House.
Both the NDI and the IRI plan to challenge the verdict.
In Washington, Kerry issued a tough written statement saying the US was “deeply concerned,” but that did not hint at any consequences — such as a cut in US assistance to Egypt — as a result of the verdict.
US Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, a member of the influential Senate Appropriations Committee and a proponent of tying US military aid to Egypt to progress on democracy and rights, called the convictions “appalling and offensive.”
“If Egypt continues on this repressive path it will be increasingly difficult for the United States to support President [Mohamed] Morsi’s government,” he said.
Under a House amendment championed by Leahy, US military aid to Egypt may not be disbursed unless the US Department of State certifies that its government “is supporting the transition to civilian government, including holding free and fair elections [and] implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association and religion and due process of law.”
The Americans sentenced in absentia include the son of US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.
At one point, Egypt placed travel bans on the suspects, including US citizens who took refuge in the US embassy. They were allowed to leave the country on bail of US$330,000 each, money that ultimately came from the US government.
Egypt was run at the time by a military council that assumed power from deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Although the case is a legacy of that era, analysts say it further darkens prospects for an open society after the Islamist-led administration drew up a new NGO law seen as a threat to democracy.
Robert Becker, the American who stayed for the trial and a former NDI employee, boarded a flight for Rome shortly after the verdict against him was read, Cairo airport sources said.
“On my lawyers’ advice, I have unwillingly gone into exile until appeals get sorted out,” he wrote on his Twitter account.
The German sentenced to two years is an employee of the Berlin-based Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
“We are outraged and very concerned about the court’s harsh decisions against the employees of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Cairo and the order to close the office,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese