Egypt bans top human rights lawyer from travel abroad

CAIRO – Egypt banned a prominent human rights lawyer from leaving the country on Thursday, according to the lawyer and an airport official — the latest in a series of travel bans imposed on rights activists in the Mideast country.

Negad Borai, who runs the United Group for Law, told The Associated Press he was heading to Jordan to visit family when airport authorities informed him that he was banned from leaving the country.

An airport official confirmed that Borai was barred from boarding a flight after it was revealed that his name had been added to a travel ban list by the public prosecutor’s office. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The ban comes amid an investigation related to an anti-torture bill drafted by Borai and submitted to President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Borai is accused of establishing an unlicensed entity, receiving illegal funds, and deliberately spreading false information with the purpose of harming public order or public interest. No official charges have been raised against him so far.

The case against Borai is part of a wider crackdown targeting civil society groups in Egypt that the government accuses of threatening national security and inciting instability.

“I’m not surprised,” Borai said.

A report jointly issued by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights recorded 80 cases of travel bans between June 2014 and September 2016. The Egyptian parliament recently passed a new law that puts heavy restrictions on non-government organizations.

Since Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was ousted from power in 2013 by the military, security authorities have targeted Islamists, but the campaign has since been extended to prominent liberal activists and even those within the government’s own ranks perceived as not toeing the official line.

Thousands have been jailed, while others have been deported, demoted or had their personal assets frozen.