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25 May 2009 Cairo - An Egyptian appeals court has
overturned a two-year jail sentence handed down to
exiled Egyptian sociologist Saadeddin Ibrahim for
damaging Egypt's reputation, the daily al Shorouk said
on Tuesday.
The ruling was made just days before an expected visit
by US President Barack Obama, who will make a speech
addressing the Muslim world.
The United States campaigned vigorously for Ibrahim's
release when he was jailed in 2002 on similar charges,
straining ties with Egypt.
Ibrahim has been living abroad for fear of arrest if
he comes back to Egypt.
The court ruled on Monday the charges Ibrahim was
convicted on could only be brought by state
prosecutors, not by individuals, state news agency
MENA said.
The original conviction stemmed from a private
prosecution by two lawyers who objected to remarks
Ibrahim made about Egypt at a conference in the Qatari
capital Doha, judicial sources said at the time.
At the conference, Ibrahim publicly suggested the Bush
administration link its aid to Egypt with political
reform and improvements in its human rights practices,
the charges said.
It is one of several suits filed against Ibrahim by
politicians and others, some of them close to the
authorities.
Rights groups say the suits are a way for the
government to intimidate Ibrahim without putting its
name to the cases. - Reuters
EsinIslam.Com
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