Egypt: Judge drops charges against 75 NGOs, unfreezes their assets

An Egyptian judge investigating state’s legal action against 85 organizations for getting foreign funds to finance 2011 revolution dropped Tuesday August 22 charges against 75 nonprofit organizations, lifted travel ban imposed on them and unfroze their assets, the justice ministry has indicated.

Investigations have concluded for 75 organizations, with orders of non-prosecution (dismissal orders) issued for them, the ministry said but added that it “closely monitors the decisions issued by the investigating judge and will work on implementing these decisions and their resulting legal effects with utmost precision, in order to uphold the principle of the rule of law.”

The remaining organizations are near to completing their investigations, while others remain unresolved, the department stressed.

Egypt in January 2011 was shaken by a revolution that swept away the regime of the autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak. Authorities believed the revolution was funded by foreign money sent to NGOs.

When he rose to power through a coup in 2013, incumbent leader Fattah al Sisi’s administration stepped up crackdown on NGOs, freezing their assets and banning their personnel from international travel.

In 2020, the parliament adopted the bylaws of a new NGO law aimed at regulating the activities of the myriad of NGOs operating within the country.