Assets of prominent Egyptian activists frozen in foreign funding case

A group of award-winning human rights lawyers and campaigners will have their assets frozen in Egypt after being accused of receiving foreign cash and using it to harm national security, the North Cairo Criminal Court ruled on Saturday.

Hossam Bahgat, journalist and founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Gamal Eid, founder of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Abdel Hafez Tayel of the Egyptian Centre for the Right to Education, Bahey El-Din Hassan of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and Mostafa Al-Hassan, director of the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre, will all be affected by the ruling.

EIPR has released a statement to say they will continue to defend human rights, whilst El-Din Hassan of the CIHRS has said human rights organisations will continue to fulfil their moral commitment towards the people.

The activists could face prosecution and up to 25 years in prison in a case that dates back to 2011. An investigation was launched into civil society groups in the months after Mubarak’s ouster when the military were in charge and a widespread crackdown on activists began.

This crackdown has intensified since the 2013 coup – CIHRS said this is the latest evidence that the current government is attempting to eradicate rights defenders in Egypt.