Archive for Egyptian citizen

Two Saudis arrested for shooting Egyptian, says Foreign Ministry

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November 11th, 2012

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Amr Roshdy said Sunday that two Saudis have been arrested for allegedly shooting an Egyptian citizen in Saudi Arabia following an argument.

He said the Egyptian Consulate in Jeddah is following up on the case.

Doctors at Medina al-Monawarah hospital in Saudi Arabia removed a bullet from the Egyptian man's leg.

Adel al-Alfy, the Egyptian general consul in Jeddah, received a report on the incident, Roshy told reporters. The two suspects who were arrested live in the same building as the man who was shot. Police are still searching for others who were allegedly involved.

Alfy contacted the citizen to ensure that he was in a good health and inform him that the consulate is following his case. He delegated Yasser Elwany, the consulate’s legal adviser, to offer support and follow up on police efforts.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Egyptian detained for blasphemy in Saudi threatens suicide

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October 17th, 2012

The Egyptian Consulate in Jeddah scrambled to meet with an unidentified Egyptian man who has been detained by Saudi authorities after he repeatedly called the consulate and threatened suicide.

The man claimed to have been held for 37 days in the Quba Police Department in Medina "unlawfully." The consulate's legal adviser

Yasser al-Wani met with the man for an hour. Consul General Ambassador Adel al-Alfi later followed up with the police department head.

The citizen faces charges of blaspheming religion and was arrested after a complaint filed against him by another Egyptian citizen, backed up by the testimony of a Saudi citizen. The case is scheduled for a hearing on 11 November.

According to Wani, the man continues to be detained at the police station because he refused to provide identity documents or sponsorship information to authorities, preventing him from being transferred to the general prison. However, the consulate has sent a memorandum to the Saudi Foreign Affairs Ministry asking for the man to be released on bail.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Dozens protest detention of Egyptian citizen in Saudi Arabia

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September 1st, 2012

 

Dozens of activists and relatives of Egyptian detainees in Saudi Arabia protested Saturday outside the Saudi Embassy in Cairo to denounce the lashing of Nagla Wafa, an Egyptian citizen residing in Saudi Arabia, and to demand the dismissal of the Egyptian foreign minister and the expulsion of the Saudi Ambassador.

During the protest, called for by former MP Hamdy al-Fakharany, demonstrators chanted, "The people want to lash the ambassador, the people want to expel the ambassador," and "Oh Qattan listen to that, we will not pass this kind of farce this time."

They raised banners reading, "No to lashing Egyptians' dignity after the revolution," and "Freedom to Nagla and all Egyptian detainees."

"Continuing the series of [insults to] Egyptians in Saudi Arabia points out the unmerciful people who do not care about the dignity of the Egyptian people. If Nagla had been an American or an Iranian, they wouldn't have dared to do such an act to her," Fakharany said.

"We reject insulting the dignity of Egyptians abroad, especially in Saudi Arabia. Nagla is from a decent family in Gharbiya, and her father is a professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Tanta," he told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Journalist Hoda Nour Zaki told Al-Masry Al-Youm, "Wasting the Egyptian people's dignity is a continuation of what was happening before the revolution." She criticized former People's Assembly speaker Saad al-Katatny and President Mohamed Morsy's visits to Saudi Arabia, saying they went to apologize although Egyptians were the ones demanding apologies.

A number of human rights organizations had demanded that Saudi Arabia release Wafa and cancel her sentence.

Wafa was sentenced to five years in prison and 500 lashes on charges of embezzling 2 million riyals from a Saudi princess. Her mother, Nashwa al-Saeedy, refused to disclose the name of the princess, but said she is a first degree relative of the king. She added the princess’s lawyer exploited his connections with the now-dissolved State Security Service.

Wafa has already spent three years in prison and received 300 lashes after being arrested in Saudi Arabia on 30 September 2009.

The family of Wafa said they were told that their daughter would be held in prison for life if they reported the matter to the media.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Egyptian accuses Saudi authorities of torturing his sons

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July 31st, 2012

An Egyptian citizen accused Saudi authorities of detaining and beating his sons in Jeddah and forcing them withdraw lawsuits filed against their work sponsor in Saudi Arabia.

Mesbah Abdel Azeem Amer’s sons, Mohamed and Ibrahim, traveled to work at the Ateeq milk factory in Medina two years ago, he told Al-Masry Al-Youm. They were able to obtain drivers’ licenses, so they distributed the factory’s products.

According to their father, everything was good until two months later, when factory officials allegedly falsified bills.

Ibrahim was prevented from working for a month, and the two brothers’ residencies were withdrawn, so they filed reports against the officials.

Amer said that Saudi authorities arrested them on 23 July. They were held and beaten at the prosecutor’s office, then released the following day when they went to hospital and asked for a medical report about their conditions. The Egyptian consulate in Jeddah allegedly did nothing after they asked for help.

In a phone call with Al-Masry Al-Youm from Saudi Arabia, Ibrahim said he and his brother were beaten and tortured and that they are staying in the street without residency, passports or money. They called on President Mohamed Morsy to intervene.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Saudi ambassador says Egyptian prisoners will be pardoned

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July 19th, 2012

Saudi Arabia will issue a general pardon for some Egyptian prisoners being held in the kingdom on the occasion of Ramadan, but Ahmed al-Gizawy will not be eligible because he is still being tried, Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed al-Qattan said Thursday.

Qattan’s comments followed a meeting with President Mohamed Morsy in the presidential palace.

Morsy’s visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this month bolstered bilateral relations, Qattan said, adding that Morsy accepted Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz’s invitation to attend a summit of Islamic nations on 14 and 15 August. The summit will deal with the challenges and dangers that face Islamic countries.

Qattan said during a press briefing Wednesday that the King and the Crown Prince will visit Egypt soon.

A Saudi court on Wednesday adjourned the drug possession trial of Gizawy, another Egyptian citizen and a Saudi defendant to 5 September. Prosecutors are asking for the death penalty.

Protests broke out at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo following Gizawy’s April arrest as activists alleged he was being detained for his work with Egyptian detainees in the kingdom. The unrest prompted Saudi Arabia to temporarily recall its ambassador.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Wasat Party head: Shafiq flew to UAE with large amount of uninspected luggage

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June 30th, 2012

Wasat Party vice president and former MP Essam Sultan has accused unnamed entities of being responsible for allowing Ahmed Shafiq, the defeated presidential candidate, to travel to the UAE carrying a cargo estimated at 7,110 kilograms without it being subject to inspection.

Sultan tweeted, “at 3:30 am, June 26, on board Etihad Airways flight 650 bound to Abu Dhabi, an Egyptian citizen flew with luggage [...] with a total weight of 7110 kg. The VIP lounge was opened for the citizen and none of his load was inspected. This citizen was Ahmed Shafiq.”

He pointed out that Hussein Salem, on the run Egyptian businessman with ties to Mubarak, traveled in the same way during the 18-day uprising in early 2011, with a similar load that included €450 million, or about LE4 billion. The prime minister at the time, incidentally, was Shafiq.

Sultan wondered, “Who was the person who allowed both of them to do so? Who ordered the VIP room opened for them? Why the UAE in particular? And who prevents customs officers from doing their work? Noting that, according to the Egyptian law, a passenger is not allowed to travel with more than LE10,000 or US$5,000.”

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Foreign Ministry says working to release Egyptian lawyer detained in Saudi

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April 24th, 2012

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry has asked its diplomats in Saudi Arabia to contact local authorities to seek the release of an Egyptian citizen detained there for insulting the kingdom's monarch, ministry Spokesperson Amr Roshdy said Tuesday.

Ahmed al-Gizawy, a lawyer and a human rights activist, was detained last week when he arrived in Saudi Arabia to perform the holy Muslim pilgrimage of Umra. He had been sentenced in absentia to 20 lashes before arriving, though he had not been notified of this beforehand.

Gizawy has been a vocal critic of Saudi authorities' treatment of Egyptian workers and an advocate of the rights of Egyptian detainees there.

He had also filed a lawsuit against King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, accusing him of practicing arbitrary detention and physical abuse against Egyptian nationals, and demanding the detainees be released and compensated.

Roshdy stressed that Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr is following up developments in Gizawy's case from Addis Ababa, where he is attending an African Union summit.

"Egypt's ambassador in Riyadh, Mahmoud Ouf, has also canceled his annual vacation to keep in touch with the case," Roshdy said. "Ouf already convened with the Saudi interior ministry official, Prince Saud bin Nayef, to discuss the same issue."

Roshdy said though the ministry understands Egyptians' anger over Gizawy's arrest, Egyptians should consider whether the way they express their anger will help or harm Gizawy's cause.

News about Gizawy's detention at an unknown destination has enraged many social network users, who have unleashed scathing criticisms of the Saudi king.

"Our ministry will only focus on practical measures that would help in solving the issue, and will not stoke the media campaign to avoid fueling public fury," Roshdy said.

"This is a legal issue that will determine the fate of an Egyptian detained abroad — it is not a football match dispute for which we are free to vent out our anger," Roshdy added.

Edited translation from MENA

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Egyptian citizen executed in Saudi Arabia for murder

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March 17th, 2012

Saudi Arabia executed an Egyptian convicted of murdering a citizen of the kingdom, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement published by the Saudi press on Saturday.

Nabil al-Atwa was beheaded in the capital Riyadh late on Friday after being convicted of murdering Abdullah al-Buheiri "by hitting him on the head with a hammer after a financial disagreement" between the two, the ministry said.

Atwa's execution brings the number of beheadings in the kingdom so far this year to 15, according to an AFP tally based on official reports.

Human rights group Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia executed 79 people in 2011. In December two Egyptians convicted of murdering a Filipino were beheaded by sword in the Saudi capital.

The ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences, including rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking as well as murder.

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