EGYPT?S high state security court slated three hearings this week for the retrial of human rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim on charges of defaming Egypt’s reputation internationally, court sources said on Sunday.
The court will hold hearings from May 14-16 for Ibrahim, who holds dual Egyptian and US citizenship. He is on trial with 27 others. It was not clear if witnesses would be called.
The trial opened on April 27 with Ibrahim and five co-defendants hearing the testimony from the docket. Twenty-two people also charged in the case were not present.
So far, there have been two sessions. One witness, a state security officer, has accused Ibrahim of swindling funds from foreign institutions.
The defendants are charged with tarnishing Egypt’s image by “spreading false information abroad” about “supposed electoral frauds” as well as receiving, without official approval, funding from the European Union to finance the activities of the Ibn Khaldun Centre.
The centre says it works to promote democracy and human rights in Egypt.
Ibrahim served eight months in jail after the state security court sentenced him to seven years in prison last May.
He was freed in February when Egypt’s top appeals court ordered a retrial, saying the first case had failed to examine properly the prosecution’s evidence as well as the defence’s arguments. – AFP