Egypt names 43 NGO workers facing trial

Feb 6, 2012, 16:03 GMT

Cairo - Nineteen US citizens and two Germans were among 43 people whom Egypt are seeking to put on trial over alleged illegal activities by non-government organizations, judicial officials said Monday.

Only five of the US workers, including Sam LaHood, son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, are currently in Egypt and face a travel ban. LaHood runs the Egypt office of the Washington-based International Republican Institute.

The two Germans, who also remain in Egypt, work at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Three Serbs, two Lebanese, a Norwegian, a Palestinian and a Jordanian are to face trial along with 14 Egyptians.

Judges Sameh Abu Zeid and Ashraf al-Ashmawi, who led an investigation into the work of NGOs, said the foreigners face charges of setting up offices in Egypt without licences and bankrolling certain groups during parliamentary election to serve foreign agendas.

The Egyptians are accused of receiving millions of dollars to 'implement a foreign scheme in the country, undermine national security and transfer important reports to foreign bodies.'

The United States expressed concern about the developments and has been discussing it with Egyptian officials at a high level, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

'We're deeply disturbed by the crackdown against NGOs in Egypt, including the filing of charges against Americans,' Carney said.

'Groups like the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute and many others, both American and Egyptian, have done nothing wrong. Their only assignment is to support Egypt in its transition to democracy.'

The Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin protested the charges against Cairo bureau chief Andreas Jacobs and a female staffer. The federally funded foundation is affiliated with Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Its chairman, Hans-Gert Poettering, said he met Monday with Egyptian Ambassador Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy and told him the charges were 'utterly unacceptable.' Poettering said he would visit Cairo on Tuesday to consult staff.

The German Foreign Ministry promised to assist the foundation, saying the charges put Egypt's political transformation in a bad light. It said the 'obstruction' was a main topic during Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle's visit to Cairo last month.

In December, Egyptian prosecutors and police raided the offices of 17 NGOs throughout the country, detaining employees and seizing computer files.

No date was given for the start of the trials, which will take place at the Cairo Criminal Court.

Judges said other suspects at non-profit groups were still under investigation.

The move is set to anger the United States, which has threatened to withhold 1.3 billion dollars of annual military aid to Egypt over the crackdown on NGOs.

Egypt has been receiving the aid since 1979, when it signed a peace treaty with Israel.