Egypt today slammed the UN chief for calling for a fair trial for two prominent rights activists accused of illegally receiving foreign funds for their non-government organizations the latest sign of Egypt's growing impatience with criticism of its human rights record.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement that comments by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon were an attempt to intimidate Egypt's judiciary and meddle in its affairs.
A spokesman for Ban said in a statement yesterday that he was "following closely" the government's legal case against NGOs over the foreign funds issue and that the two activists Gamal Eid and Hossam Bahgat should "benefit from all due process and fair trial standards."
Ban's comments, said Abu Zeid, are "attempts to intimidate the Egyptian judiciary and influence its work, which does not fall within the mandate or responsibilities of the entity from which they are issued, and does not conform to its consistent claims of respecting the rule of law and judicial independence."
Eid and Bahgat appeared today before a criminal court in Cairo that was to decide whether to freeze their assets. The court ruled to postpone the case until May 23.
Eid is the founder and director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information. Bahgat, founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, is now among Egypt's most prominent investigative journalists.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government has placed restrictions on civil rights groups at a time when criticism is growing of the country's human rights record, particularly police abuse.
The case of an Italian doctoral student abducted, tortured and killed in the Egyptian capital earlier this year has fueled the criticism and poisoned Cairo's close ties with Rome.
Italy has withdrawn its ambassador from Egypt in protest against what it says is the lack of full cooperation by Egyptian investigators in the case of the student, Giulio Regeni.
