It has been a complex legal odyssey that has finally culminated in
this happy news. Dr. Ibrahim and his 27 associates were first arrested
on June 30, 2000, and were detained and interrogated in jail for 45
days, without formal charges. Eventually, he was accused and tried
on charges that of criticizing the Egyptian government and activities
that included registering people to vote and supporting the rights
of Egyptian minorities.
On May 21, 2001, Dr. Ibrahim was sentenced to seven years in prison.
His co-defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1-5
years. The original sentence set off widespread protests from European
countries and the United States, with President Bush warning that
he might not deliver any new aid to Egypt, in protest of Dr. Ibrahim's
prosecution. On February 6, 2002 - after more than 300 days in prison
- Dr. Ibrahim and the five other jailed Ibn Khaldoun defendants were
ordered released by Egypt's highest appeals court. The court ruled
that the first trial in State Security court was improperly conducted,
and ordered a retrial.
The retrial began on April 27, 2002 before a circuit of the High
State Security Court, South Cairo District. The prosecution essentially
retried the case unchanged from the first trial and asked for maximum
sentences. Witnesses for the defense included some of Egypt's leading
public figures, including a member of Egypt's Parliament. The defense
also challenged the constitutionality of laws penalizing the 'tarnishing
of Egypt's image abroad' and Military Orders issued under the provisions
of Emergency Law. The constitutional challenge was prepared and presented
by one of Egypt's most distinguished jurists, Dr. Awad el Morr, former
chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court. Ten additional
lawyers presented the defense case and submitted hundreds of pages
of legal argument to the judges. The court took the unprecedented
step of holding both day and night sessions, many ending after midnight.
Despite this schedule of hearings, every trial session was attended
by diplomats from European and North American embassies (at least
three ambassadors attended over the course of this trial), as well
as human rights organization representatives and foreign and local
journalists.
On July 29, 2002, with fewer than twenty minutes of deliberation,
the second trial ended before allowing the usual summary or rebuttal
opportunity to either side. Dr. Ibrahim was sentenced to seven years
in prison. A stunned courtroom watched as Dr. Ibrahim and three associates
were quickly hauled off to unknown locations (A fourth was convicted
in absentia). Three of the defendants, who had cooperated earlier
with State Security interrogators, received suspended sentences and
were immediately released.
The defendants were then held in a detention center for more than
48 hours, and no one was permitted access to them. Temperatures inside
were reported to be well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and Dr. Ibrahim
was denied access to the medical equipment he needs for his fragile
physical health. They were later transferred to prisons to begin serving
their sentences.
The Supreme State Security Court released its judicial ruling in
the case on August 25, 2002 - almost a month after the defendants
began serving their prison terms. Dr. Ibrahim's defense lawyers appealed
the decision. In a critical turning point in the case, on December
3, 2002, the appeals court overturned Dr. Ibrahim's seven-year sentence,
ordered a retrial for January, 2003, and released him from prison
pending the retrial.
Finally, as of Tuesday, March 18, 2003, Dr. Ibrahim is a free man.
After hearing this last verdict, he cried out "Thank God!, Thank
God!" and the courtroom erupted in shouts of joy.
Freedom
Now was retained to represent Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, an internationally
renowned sociologist and advocate of democracy and human rights, who
is a professor at the American University in Cairo and the Director
of the Ibn Khaldoun Center, a non-governmental research organization.
On behalf of Dr. Ibrahim and his family, Freedom Now submitted a petition
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