CAIRO: The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) is accusing both the Egyptian and Saudi security forces of arresting 27-year-old Egyptian IT programmer Youssef Al-Ashmawy without official charges or investigations.
ANHRI condemned the collaboration of both the Egyptian security officials with their Saudi counterparts in Al-Ashmawy s detainment Riyadh’s Al-Hayer prison, the organization said in a press statement.
Al-Ashmawy, according to ANHRI, traveled to Saudi Arabia in October 2007 to work as a programmer in an IT company in Riyadh. On Aug. 24, 2008, he was allegedly summoned by the city s traffic department for some paperwork needed to issue a driver s license. He never made it back home. His family was then notified that he was taken by security forces to an unidentified location, and since then he has not made any contact with his family or lawyers.
“ANHRI was able to find out that Al-Ashmawy is currently being detained in Al-Hayer prison in Riyadh with no charges, the statement said.
“What is shameful is that the Egyptian embassy in Saudi almost kicked out Al-Ashmawy’s father when he went asking it to interfere and bring his son back . this also encourages the Saudi government, which is known for its [bad record of human rights violations], to do whatever it pleases and jail Egyptian citizens without them doing anything wrong, Gamal Eid, executive director of ANHRI, said.
ANHRI claims that Al-Ashmawy was arrested because he posed a threat to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, fearing he may leak secrets that he could have come across while working on the ministry s projects.
ANHRI filed an official report to the Egyptian General Attorney on Sept.17 asking him to interfere in the matter especially that neither the Egyptian embassy in Saudi Arabia nor the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have taken any action in the case.
