Case History: Ahmed Samih
On 13 June 2016, Cairo Criminal Court ordered to freeze the assets of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and anti-Violence Studies and its director Ahmed Samih pending investigation, in the framework of the ongoing foreign funding case which resumed in March 2016. If they are charged with receiving foreign funding, the NGO will have to close and the human rights defender will face a heavy sentence under Article 78 and 98 of Egypt’s penal code.
Ahmed Samih is the Director of Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies (AITAS), a NGO established in 2004, and works in Egypt and the MENA region to strengthen the values of tolerance and eliminate all forms of discrimination. AITAS is member of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN). Radio Horytna was founded by AITAS in 2007 as an online radio program to broadcast news about human rights and democracy in the MENA.
On 13 June 2016, Cairo Criminal Court ordered to freeze the assets of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and anti-Violence Studies and its director Ahmed Samih pending investigation, in the framework of the ongoing foreign funding case which resumed in March 2016. If they are charged with receiving foreign funding, the NGO will have to close and the human rights defender will face a heavy sentence under Article 78 and 98 of Egypt’s penal code.
On 13 June 2016, during the first hearing session, Cairo Criminal Court issued an order to freeze the assets of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Non-Violence Studies and of its director Ahmed Samih. The human rights defender was not officially informed of the hearing against him and the organisation, and only learned about it from the media. His defence team did not have the opportunity to examine the case and thus to prepare for the defence. He was accused of “using foreign funding to foment unrest.” This is the first order which has been issued relating to the foreign funding case, following a series of summons targeting several heads of human rights organisations
On 29 March 2016, three staff members of the Andalus Institute were summoned to report to the investigating judge at the New Cairo Court regarding the foreign funding case, which was then postponed.
Forty-one Egyptian organisations have been included in the foreign funding case, also known as Case No.173, with some of their leaders and staff members being summoned on charges including “receipt of illegal foreign funding” and “working without legal permission”. Between March and May 2016, human rights defenders Mr Bahey Eldin Hassan, his wife and daughter, Mr Mostafa Al Hassan, Mr Abdel Hafez Tayel, Mr Hossam Bahgat, and Mr Gamal Eid received summons to appear before the court following an order from the investigating judge to freeze their personal funds and family assets. On 23 May, Cairo Criminal Court postponed the asset freeze hearing of those HRDs to 17 July.
Front Line Defenders condemns the criminalisation of the work of human rights defenders in Egypt and calls for an immediate end to their persecution, reiterating the essential role of their work in the development of a just and equal society.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Egypt to:
1. Put an end to the ongoing investigation against the above-mentioned human rights defenders and human rights organisations in Egypt, and drop all charges and measures, including the asset freezes, against the defenders and their families;
2. Immediately cease all harassment of human rights defenders in Egypt, as Front Line Defenders believes that their rights are being restricted solely as a result of their legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights;
3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Egypt are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.
On 4 April at 3:00 pm Egyptian police raided the headquarters of Radio Horytnain central Cairo, searched its premises, confiscated three computers and arrested the chief editor of Horytna, human rights defender Mr Ahmed Samih.
The prosecutor interrogated Mr Samih for six hours and ordered his detention for one night for further investigation. On 5 April in the evening, Samih was released on bail of 5000 LE (596 EUR) after being charged with "establishing a radio station and broadcasting materials on the Internet without permission".
Egypt law does not require a licence for establishing online radio stations or broadcasting materials on the Internet. Front Line Defenders is worried that this case can set a dangerous precedent for freedom of expression on the Internet in Egypt.
