Arrest and release on bail of Azza Soliman

New information

EGY 004 / 1116 / OBS 101.1
Arbitrary Arrest / Release on bail /

Judicial harassment
Egypt
December 8, 2016

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) andFIDH, received new information and requests your urgent intervention in thefollowing situation in Egypt.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arrest ofMs. Azza Soliman, human rights lawyer and founder of the Centre forEgyptian Women Legal Aid (CEWLA), an NGO that provides freelegal, social, and psychological services to women and marginalized groups, andadvocates for improved protections of their rights, and member of the Executive Committee of the WHRD MENA Coalition.

According to the information received, on December 7, 2016 at around1.30 pm, police officers came to the house of Ms. Azza Soliman in the earlyafternoon presenting her an arrest warrant issued by investigative Judge HishamAbdel Meguid, investigating on the case No. 173/2001 (commonly known as the“NGO foreign funding case) (see background information). Thisis the first arrest warrant to be issued against an NGO worker in relation tothis case. The charges brought against her are of“receiving foreign funding to harm the State’s interest”, “establishment of anentity that conducts activities similar to that of associations' activities“and “tax evasion”. She has been taken by force to the Masr Al Jdede(Heliopolis) Police Station, and afterwards brought to the New Cairo Courtbefore the investigative judge.

After several hours of interrogation, Ms. Soliman was finally releasedin the evening of the same day at around 8 pm after paying a bail of 20,000 EGP(approx. 1,080 €).

This new act of harassment against Ms. Soliman comes only three weeksafter she was informed of a travel ban ordered without any court hearing andpreventing her from leaving Egypt and of the attempt to freeze her personalassets, along with her law firm assets. Ms. Soliman and her associate were inthe process of investigating the reasons of these two consecutive harassmentmeasures at the time of the arrest. Indeed, the sameinvestigative judge requested a felony court to freeze her assets. The courtset December 12, 2016 as the date for the hearing.

The Observatory would like to recall that travel ban and asset freezeshave become a common tool of repression against human rights defenders by theEgyptian authorities[1].Several other human rights defenders are also subjected to criminal investigationin the framework of the foreign funding case[2].

The Observatory would like to recall that this measure comes one weekafter the approval by the Parliament of a new NGO law[3]that, if implemented, will annihilate independent civil society in Egypt.

The Observatory is extremely concerned about this new act of harassmentagainst Ms. Azza Soliman, which only aims at sanctioning her legitimate humanrights activities, and urges the Egyptian authorities to immediately drop thetrumped-up charges against her and more in general against all human rightsdefenders in Egypt.

Background Information:

On January 24, 2015, Ms. Soliman voluntary went to the Public Prosecution'soffice to give her testimony regarding the violent dispersal by security forcesof a protest organised on the same day by the political party “Popular Alliance”,which led to the death of political activist Ms. Shaimaa El Sabbagh. Ms.Soliman did not take part in the protest, but was coincidentally in the samearea and witnessed the dispersal and the shooting of the activist.

After waiting several hours at the Public Prosecution's office, Ms. Soliman wasfinally able to give her testimony, pointing to the responsibility of thepolice for the death of the activist. Ms. Soliman also filed a complaintaccusing the Minister of Interior and security forces of having violentlydispersed the peaceful protest.

Upon completion of her testimony, the prosecutor then interrogated her, andinformed her that he was going to press charges against her and four otherwitnesses for “illegal gathering” and “participating in a protest that harmedpublic security”. Ms. Soliman was released along with the other four, pendinginvestigation.

On March 23, 2015, Ms. Soliman was formally charged with “unauthorisedprotest”, and “breach of security and public order”. Along with Ms. Soliman,sixteen others were charged, including Ms. Nagwa Abbass, member of theSocialist Popular Alliance Party.

On March 28, 2015, the lawyers of Ms. Soliman requested from the GeneralProsecutor to include her as a witness and not as a defendant in the case,however on March 31, this request was denied.

On April 4, 2015, the first hearing took place before the Abdeen MisdemeanorCourt. Ms. Soliman's lawyers requested adjournment, as they had not been ableto access the criminal files[4].The request was granted and the Court adjourned the hearing to May 9, 2015. OnMay 9, the judge heard requests made by lawyers of other accused and adjournedthe hearing to May 23, 2015.

On May 23, 2015, the Abdeen Misdemanour Court acquitted Ms. Soliman on chargesof “unauthorised protest” and “breach of security and public order”. However, on May 26, 2015, the PublicProsecution appealed the decision. The first court hearing was due to be heldon September 26, but was then postponed to October 24, 2015.

Meanwhile, on June 11, 2015, one police officer was sentenced to 15 yearsimprisonment on charges of “beating leading to death” of Ms. Shaimaa AlSabbagh.

On October 24, 2015, the Qasr Al Nil Appeal Court confirmed theacquittal of Ms. Azza Soliman along with sixteen other defendants on charges of“unauthorised protesting” and “breach of security and public order”. Thisdecision is final and not subject to appeal.

On November 17, 2016, Ms Azza Soliman attempted to travel from Egypt toJordan in order to participate in a training for the Mushawah movement, anorganisation promoting equity within the Muslim community, when she wasinformed by the authorities that she was banned from travelling. This followeda judicial order instructed that same day by the investigative judge in thecase No. 173/2011, commonly known as “NGOs foreign funding case”, which alsoordered the freezing of her personal as well as her law firm’s assets.

Ms. Soliman was never informed of any charges against her or summonedfor interrogation. She is the third human rights defender and NGO Director tobe banned from travelling this month, a few days after human rights lawyers AhmadRagheb, Founder of the National Community for Human Rights and Law (NCHRL)and Malek Adly, Director of the Lawyers Network of the Egyptian Centerfor Economic and Social Rights (ECESR).

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Egypt asking them to:

i. Drop all the charges against Ms. Soliman, as well as against all otherhuman rights defenders in Egypt as they only aim to sanction their legitimate humanrights activities.

ii. Guarantee in all circumstances Ms. Soliman’s freedom of movement andassociation, by immediately and unconditionally lifting the travel ban andassets freeze imposed against her, as they aim only at sanctioning herlegitimate human rights activities

iii. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human RightsDefenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9,1998, especially Articles 1 and 12.2; and

iv. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for humanrights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights and with international and regional human rights instrumentsratified by Egypt.

Addresses:

· President of the Arab Republic of Egypt,H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Fax: +202 23901998
· Prime Minister, Mr. Sherif Ismail. Fax: +202 2735 6449 / 27958016. Email: primemin@idsc.gov.eg
· Minister of the Interior, General MagdyAbdel Ghaffar, E-mail: moi1@idsc.gov.eg, Fax: +202 2579 2031 / 2794 5529

· Minister of Justice, Mr. AhmedAl-Zanad, E-mail: mojeb@idsc.gov.eg, Fax: +202 2795 8103
· Public Prosecutor, Counsellor NabeelSadek, Fax: +202 2577 4716
· Mr. Mohamed Fayeq, President of theNational Council For Human Rights, Fax: + 202 25747497 / 25747670. Email: nchr@nchr.org.eg

· H.E. Ms. Wafaa Bassim, Ambassador,Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, Email:mission.egypt@ties.itu.int, Fax: +41 22 738 44 15

· Embassy of Egypt in Brussels, Fax:+32 2 675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be

Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Egypt in your respectivecountry.

[1] See the Observatory JointStatement of November 9, 2016.

[2] See the Observatory Urgent AppealEGY 004 / 0615 / OBS 049.7 issued onSeptember 19, 2016.

[3] See the Observatory Press Release issued on November 11,2016.

[4] Before the first hearing on April 4, the lawyers were told that theyneeded to first sign a paper stating that Ms. Soliman is a defendant and not awitness in the case, before getting access to the case file.