Case History: Esraa Abdel Fattah
On 4 October 2018, four years and nine months after a travel ban was issued against Esraa Abdel Fattah, the journalist and woman human rights defender was officially summoned for an interrogation in relation to the “Foreign Funding Case”.
On 28 March 2017, the Cairo Administrative Court heard Esraa Abdel-Fattah in a case she brought against a decision by the Egyptian General Attorney imposing a travel ban against her. A hearing to announce the outcome of the trial is expected to take place on 9 May 2017.
On 7 December 2015, the Criminal Court of South Cairo District rejected the petition submitted on behalf of human rights defender Ms Esraa Abdel Fattah by her lawyers against the travel ban issued against her.
On 16 June 2015, the Cairo Administrative Court upheld the travel ban imposed on human rights defender Ms Esraa Abdel Fattah.
On the morning of 13 January 2015, police officers at Cairo International Airport stopped human rights defender Ms Esraa Abdel Fattah from boarding a flight to Germany, and informed her that this was due to a judicial travel ban issued against her. Esraa Abdel Fattah had not received prior notification of the travel ban.
Esraa Abdel Fattah is a woman human rights defender and journalist at al-Tahrir newspaper. She was project manager at the Egyptian Democratic Academy, a non-governmental organization that promotes the use of new media tools to foster democracy and human rights. Esraa Abdel Fattah is known for her efforts to promote workers' rights and democracy; she began her human rights work in 2008, when she co-founded the April 6 Movement.
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- 8 October 2018 : Esraa Abdel Fattah Summoned for Interrogation
- 28 March 2017 : HRD Appeals Travel Ban
- 8 December 2015 : Petition submitted by Esraa Abdel Fattah against travel ban rejected
- 16 June 2015 : Travel ban against Esraa Abdel Fattah upheld
- 14 January 2015 : Travel ban imposed on prominent human rights defender Ms Esraa Abdel Fattah
On 4 October 2018, four years and nine months after a travel ban was issued against Esraa Abdel Fattah, the journalist and woman human rights defender was officially summoned for an interrogation in relation to the “Foreign Funding Case”. In May 2013, 43 staff members of international NGOs were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to five years on charges of “using foreign funding to foment unrest”. The interrogation of Esraa Abdel Fattah is scheduled for Tuesday, 9 October 2018, at 11 a.m.
On 28 March, the Cairo Administrative Court heard Esraa Abdel-Fattah in a case she brought against a decision by the Egyptian General Attorney imposing a travel ban against her. A hearing to announce the outcome of the trial is expected to take place on 9 May 2017.
On 7 December 2015, the Criminal Court of South Cairo District rejected the petition submitted on behalf of human rights defender Ms Esraa Abdel Fattah by her lawyers against the travel ban issued against her.
The travel ban against Esraa Abdel Fattah was upheld by the Cairo Administrative Court on 16 June 2015, following a lawsuit filed by the human rights defender demanding that the travel ban issued against her by the Public Prosecutor be revoked. She became aware of the ban on 13 January 2015, as she attempted to board a flight to Germany. She had received no prior notification of the travel ban and has not been informed of the reasons for it.
On 16 June 2015, the Cairo Administrative Court upheld the travel ban imposed on human rights defender Ms Esraa Abdel Fattah.
The decision followed a lawsuit filed by Esraa Abdel Fattah demanding that the travel ban issued against her by the Public Prosecutor be revoked. The human rights defender became aware of the ban when it was invoked against her on 13 January 2015, as she attempted to board a flight to Germany. She had received no prior notification of the travel ban.
On the morning of 13 January 2015, police officers at Cairo International Airport stopped human rights defender Ms Esraa Abdel Fattah from boarding a flight to Germany, and informed her that this was due to a judicial travel ban issued against her. Esraa Abdel Fattah had not received prior notification of the travel ban.
The refusal to allow Esraa Abdel Fattah to fly is one of a series of travel bans imposed on human rights defenders in Egypt, including against Messrs Hossameldin Ali and Ahmed Ghonim, President and Vice President of the Egyptian Democratic Academy, respectively. Those defenders were stopped at the Cairo International Airport on 5 December 2014 and informed of the travel bans issued against them. Several weeks later, after repeated contact with the Office of the Public Prosecutor, they were told that the ban was ordered in connection with an ongoing judicial investigation into illegal foreign funding allegedly received by human rights organisations, which began in 2011. However, neither defender has been summoned for interrogation or officially notified of the travel bans.
The restrictions imposed on Egyptian civil society have been continuously intensifying over recent years with the criminalisation of their work, stigmatisation in both public and private media, suffocating legal requirements and restrictions on access to funding. As previously highlighted by Front Line Defenders, in July 2014, Egypt’s Ministry of Social Solidarity publicly warned human rights NGOs to register under Association Law No.84/2002 or be prosecuted.
