Egypt court upholds asset freeze in NGOs trial

An Egyptian court on Saturday upheld a freeze on the assets of five human rights activists and three non-government organizations.

An investigating magistrate had ordered the freeze in March pending approval from the court.

“The court approved the order to freeze the assets of the five activists and three NGOs,” a judicial source said on condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak to media.

The five included prominent activists Hossam Bahgat, the founder and former director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, and Gamal Eid, the founder and director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information.

“This decision is a revenge against independent rights activists,” Eid told reporters. “The regime is continuing its assault on human rights,” he said.

The NGOs whose assets were frozen are the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and its director Bahey el-din Hassan, the Hisham Mubarak Law Center and its director Mostafa al-Hassan, and the Egyptian Right to Education Center and its director Abdelhafiz Tayel.

The case dates back to 2011 when Egyptian authorities accused 43 Egyptian and foreign activists of receiving foreign funds.

Egypt has been under fire for cracking down hard on rights groups, a claim denied by the Egyptian authorities.