A US federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit filed by US citizen Mohamed Soltan against former Egyptian prime minister Hazem El-Beblawi. The US activist argued he was targeted for assassination, arrest and torture.in which the in Cairo from 2013 to 2015 at Beblawi’s authorisation.
On Friday, a Washington DC court dismissed the case due to El-Beblawi’s immunity as per a formal declaration submitted by the US administration, according to media reports.
In early April, the US Justice Department submitted a formal declaration urging the court to dismiss the case filed by Soltan against El-Beblawi since the latter had diplomatic immunity at the time of filing the lawsuit because he was serving as a principal resident representative of Egypt to the US-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) until October 2020.
The lawsuit was filed in the district court of Washington DC accuses the then Egyptian prime minister, Hazem Abdel Aziz El Beblawi, of direct responsibility for Soltan’s treatment under the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act.
It accuses Beblawi of coordinating with other top Egyptian officials to monitor Soltan’s movements during the 2013 protests, an attempt on his life and overseeing his arrest and torture.
Soltan was arrested in 2013 over terrorism charges, he was released from Egyptian custody in 2015 after he renounced his Egyptian nationality. Egyptian laws stipulate that foreign nationals who are convicted in crimes they committed in Egypt can be deported to serve their sentences or be retried in their country.
