File – Gavel on sound blockCAIRO – 01 February 2018: The court of appeal postponed on Thursday its review of the appeals submitted by 16 defendants in foreign funding case to April 5.On Thursday, the court of appeals was scheduled to hear the first appeal hearings of 16 defendants out of 43 Egyptian and foreign workers who were sentenced in June 2013 with prison sentences between one and five years in the case No. The court ordered the closure of the organizations in questions, including the International Republican Institute, National Democratic Institute, Freedom House, International Center for Journalists and Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation.Three years later in 2016, the Egyptian prosecution added more NGOs including the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Nazra for Feminist Studies, the Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and United Group. Three staff members of Nazra for Feminist Studies appeared before the investigations.Also the renowned rights activist Hossam Bahgat is being investigated. He is a journalist and founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personnel Rights (EIPR), as well as Gamal Eid, a lawyer and founder of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) as they are accused of receiving illegal funds for their NGOs.They both have been banned from traveling and their assets were frozen along with the assets of Eid’s daughter and wife. The Cairo Criminal Court approved a freeze on their assets in September 2016.

Source: Egypt Today February 01, 2018 14:15 UTC