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Egyptian Scholar Sentenced
An Egyptian court in July sentenced scholar and human rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim to seven years in prison with hard labor, sparking protests from scholars, human rights activists, and Western governments. Ibrahim, a professor of sociology at the American University in Cairo and director of the now-defunct Ibn Khaldun Center for Developmental Research, was convicted on charges of tarnishing Egypt's reputation abroad, embezzlement, and accepting foreign funding without government permission. The first charge stems from the center's criticism of the Egyptian government on matters including voter irregularities in elections. The last two charges relate to a grant received by the center from the European Union to fund a project encouraging voter participation in Egypt. The European Union has denied any wrongdoing by Ibrahim. He was convicted in May 2001 on the same charges and given the same sentence, but was granted an appeal.
President Bush has urged the Egyptian authorities to reverse the decision and has threatened to withhold new aid to Egypt to protest Ibrahim's treatment. AAUP president Jane Buck, along with many other scholars, has written to the Egyptian authorities urging them to reconsider the sentence.
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