'Unlicensed NGOs' funds' defendants acquitted of chargesCAIRO – 20 December 2018: The Cairo Criminal Court acquitted 40 defendants after retrying them on Thursday over charges of receiving $60 million in foreign funds for human rights organizations and NGOs working in Egypt without licenses.The court acquitted 40 defendants in the case known in media as "Foreign Funding" that started in 2011. "A total of 16 defendants, out of 43 Egyptian and foreign workers, were sentenced in June 2013 to prison sentences between one and five years. A number of human rights activists appealed against the sentences at the Court of Cassation.As per the investigations, the sentenced defendants, including 14 Egyptians and 29 Americans, Europeans and Arabs.On June 4, 2013, Cairo Criminal Court handed five-year-sentences in absentia to 32 defendants, including 17 U.S. citizens and one-year-suspended sentences to 11 Egyptian defendants. Three staff members of Nazra for Feminist Studies appeared before the investigations.In addition, the renowned rights activist Hossam Bahgat is being investigated. The Cairo Criminal Court approved a freeze on their assets in September 2016.

Source: Egypt Today December 20, 2018 10:52 UTC