TV host Amr Al-Leithy was allowed to board an aeroplane to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday, after general prosecutor Nabil Sadek had ordered to lift his name from the travel ban list, state-owned media reported.
In November, Al-Leithy was barred from boarding an aeroplane to Dubai. Commenting on the ban, the TV host said that he was not informed about the decision except upon his arrival with his family at Cairo International airport. He also added in a statement that he did not know if any accusations were levelled against him.
Following the ban, Al-Leithy said that he went to Sadek’s office to understand the reasons behind the ban; however, he was not provided with any information.
The travel ban decision came after a video of a tuk-tuk driver who was harshly criticising the living conditions in Egypt was broadcasted by Al-Leithy during his TV show on privately-owned channel Al-Hayah.
The video stirred controversy after it circulated on social media. The driver faced both backlash and support on his comments.
Al-Leithy was not the first in the long chain of travel bans; however, he was the first outside the community of human rights defenders. In November, United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst criticised the increasing use of travel bans by Egyptian authorities against human rights defenders.
