"Roundtables on Civil Society organisations' strategic planning for democratic reform"

 STATEMENT ABOUT DR. SAAD EDDIN IBRAHIM'S PERSECUTION AND HARASSMENT IN EGYPT
The participants in the workshop on “Strategies for Civil Society” organized by Al-Kawakibi Center for Democratic Transitions in Amman (17-19 June, 2007), in cooperation with the Arab Institute for Human Rights, the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights, No Peace without Justice, and the Council for a Community of Democracies,
 
applaud and celebrate the awarding of the Zaytouna Silver Award for Excellence in Democratic Action to Dr. Saadeddine Ibrahim, and express their concern toward the recent escalation in the recent public campaign against Dr. Ibrahim in the Egyptian official media.
 
We denounce this campaign which harms the image of Egypt more than it harms the image of a well-known defender of human rights and democracy in Egypt and throughout the Arab world.
 
We also reject the efforts of some members of the ruling party who have submitted a request to the general prosecutor in Egypt demanding that Dr. Ibrahim be tried for false charges, for which he was tried before and jailed between 2000 and 2003, before he was acquitted by the High Court of Cessation from all charges.
 
We strongly believe that this will harm Egypt and the Egyptian authorities in case this sad tragedy is repeated again, a tragedy which had already damaged Egypt’s reputation and done serious harm to Dr. Ibrahim’s health. Dr. Ibrahim expresses his opinions peacefully inside and outside Egypt and the Egyptian authorities should debate or engage him with similarly peaceful means.
 
We hope that President Hosni Mubarak will resolve this matter in its early stages and will do his best to make Egypt, a country we love and are proud of, a model for political reforms, democracy, and freedom of expression.