Activist Sentenced to Egyptian Prison

The Jurist is reporting that a dual US and Egyptian professor is accused of defaming Egypt:

A judge in an Egyptian court Saturday convicted a prominent human rights activist and outspoken critic of President Hosni Mubarak in absentia of defaming Egypt and sentenced him to two years in prison. Saad Eddin Ibrahim [profile], a dual US and Egyptian citizen who is a professor of sociology at the American University in Cairo and who founded the Ibn Khaldoun Centre for Development Studies [academic websites] in Egypt, had been accused of defaming Egypt by criticizing its human rights practices and politics. Following the accusations, he decided to leave Egypt in 2007, writing [text] in the Washington Post:

Sadly, this regime has strayed so far from the rule of law that, for my own safety, I have been warned not to return to Egypt. Regime insiders and those in Cairo's diplomatic circles have said that I will be arrested or worse. My family is worried, knowing that Egypt's jails contain some 80,000 political prisoners and that disappearances are routinely ignored or chalked up to accidents. My fear is that these abuses will spread if Egypt's allies and friends continue to stand by silently while this regime suppresses the country's democratic reformers.

Ibrahim reportedly agreed to return to Egypt if he received assurances that he would not be immediately arrested. The judge Saturday said that Ibrahim could pay 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,890 USD) for bail, and that he would have the opportunity to appeal. Reuters has more. AFP has additional coverage.

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