CAIRO: The Egyptian parliamentary delegation refused to attend the human rights session of the International Parliamentary Conference in Geneva Wednesday because it was discussing the case of incarcerated former presidential candidate Ayman Nour.
The delegation was headed by Egyptian house speaker Ahmed Fathi Sorour, who bristled at the topic on the council’s agenda, saying it ignored cases in 139 other countries.
Sorour also claimed that the council’s file on the issue contained numerous falsities and ignorance of Egyptian judicial law.
Nabeel Abdel-Fatah, an expert at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies said, “I think it is due to the political implications surrounding the case. Yet this international concern is not merely about the case of Ayman Nour, human rights groups are always concerned about prisoners of conscience in the southern part of the world.
And the reason for this international interest, he continued, can be attributed to “the circumstances surrounding Nour’s arrest and the efforts of his wife Gamila Ismail on his behalf. Additionally, America’s early interest in the case was because it used it as a pressuring tool on the government.
In a written response the Egyptian delegation refused the human rights commission’s request to release Nour on grounds of ill health, stating that it considered this as interference in Egypt’s judicial system and a subversion of the commission’s agenda, rendering it impartial.
The delegation’s written response also claimed that Nour was receiving full medical treatment behind bars and that the judiciary had refused his release on those grounds.
The statement added that Nour was currently in good health and that he was found guilty of forgery, which is the reason he was behind bars.
“Whether he should be released on grounds of ill health should be something decided by medical reports on his health, Abdel-Fatah said, “however I believe this case needs to be reviewed and he should be released on medical grounds. I think a presidential pardon in this case is vital, at the very least to close this issue and not allow it to continue to be used as leverage against the Egyptian government.
