Saad Eddin Ibrahim Is Acquitted

March 18, 2003

Sociology professor Saad Eddin Ibrahim was acquitted on March 18, 2003, by Egypt's high court of justice after having been brought to trial three times on the same charges. Several of his colleagues who had also been arrested were acquitted as well. (The charges against him included accepting foreign funds without authorization, disseminating false information harmful to Egypt's interest, and embezzlement. These charges were widely criticized by the international community as being unjust and politically motivated.)

Hundreds of members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) intervened in Professor Ibrahim's behalf since his arrest in June 2000, and many wrote him personal letters of support while he was imprisoned. In November 2000 NAE/NAS member Morton Panish and former National Academies' staff member Jay Davenport traveled to Cairo to attend part of Professor Ibrahim's trial. When Professor Ibrahim was sentenced in May 2001 to 7 years in prison, the presidents of the NAS, NAE, and IOM wrote a public letter of appeal to President Mubarak. Many national academies involved in our International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies also consistently intervened in Professor Ibrahim's behalf.