Egypt lifts travel ban on foreign suspects involved in NGO case

Egypt lifts travel ban on NGO trial defendants Cairo – Akram Ali Cairo Criminal Court decided to lift the travel ban on suspects involved in the NGO foreign funding case in Egypt, including 16 US citizens who have submitted appeals to have the ban lifted in return of a bail determined by the judiciary.
This came hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the US and Egypt will work out the disagreement over the NGO foreign funding case “soon.”
A lawyer to one of the defendants told ‘Arabstoday’, on conditions of anonymity, that the US citizens presented an appeal on Wednesday stating that the defendants are held for committing an offence rather than a felony, which requires a fine of not more than 300 EGP. The court looked into the appeal and finally decided to release the defendants and lift the travel ban in return of bail to be transferred to the state’s treasury. Accordingly, defendants submitted a payable check of one million Egyptian Pounds, equivalent to 330,000 USD.
Ending the travel ban also came a day after a judge who had been presiding over the case withdrew amid rumors of political pressure that compromised his independence. Judge Mahmoud Mohamed Shoukry expressed "unease" about continuing the trial, according to the state news agency MENA.
In the same context, MP and deputy head of Wasat Party Essam Soltan presented an appeal to the general attorney to start investigating the details leading to lifting the travel ban on defendants and breaching the sovereignty and independence of the Egyptian judiciary.
“The documents of the case were in the hands of Judge Mahmoud Shoukry, and he is the only one with the right to lift the travel ban on the defendants,” Soltan said, adding that following the judge’s withdrawal, the case should remain as it is without intervention until another judge takes charge.
Soltan added that what happened is “catastrophic” as the decision to lift the travel ban was taken by “an unknown person” until this moment, where the public prosecution denied having to do with the decision and the judge presiding over the case had earlier pulled out. He called for holding prompt investigation to reveal who had issued the ruling and violated the Egyptian judiciary’s independence.