The arrest in Berlin last weekend of Ahmed Mansour, famous journalist of the Qatar based Al Jazeera network, made headlines all over the world. The fact that Germany with its high reputation as a politically stable democracy acted on behalf of Egypt, a regime that is nationally and internationally accused of ignoring the rule of law, send shockwaves not only through the Arab but also the Western world. Barely three weeks after the disputed visit of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany in the eyes of the world seemed to have changed course to play the wilful executioner to Al-Sisi‘s attacks against a free press.
Tag: NGO trial
NGO trial: How Egypt‘s President tricked Germany‘s Chancellor Merkel – again
When Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived for the press conference in the Berlin chancellery last week, they were late. “We had a little delay,” apologised the Chancellor, “we had a problem with the elevator. We went up and down several times but finally, with the help of the second elevator, in the end managed to be here.” President Al-Sisi wore a broad grin on his face.
The symbolism of this was not lost on the political observer. For decades, from President Nasser to Sadat and Mubarak, the interim government under SCAF, President Morsi and now Al-Sisi, the relationship between Egypt and Germany has been constantly going up and down, and a chance to find the second elevator to finally reach a mutual position has so far not emerged.
NGO trial: Another Day in the cage (Atlantic Council)
Tomorrow Egypt will see another court session in what has become widely known as the NGO trial. In December 2011, eight months after Hosni Mubarak was toppled and just days after the first free parliamentary election phase began, Egyptian police raided the Cairo offices of 10 non-governmental organizations (NGO) that were working in Egypt, monitoring elections and educating parties and voters in the country. Initially, no reason was given for the raids in which a total of 43 NGO staffers, including 19 Americans, were held at gunpoint while watching their offices get ransacked. Computers, files, private laptops and even cash was taken without a warrant shown or an explanation given. It took almost two months until the prosecution released both the accusations and the names of those officially being charged.
Robert Becker, at the time a political party trainer and election observer for the American NGO the National Democratic Institute (NDI), still recalls how he learned that a court case was going to shape his future.