HEARINGS BEGIN IN NEW CASES AGAINST EGYPTIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 003283 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC FOR SINGH AND WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2017 TAGS: PREL PHUM KDEM EG SUBJECT: HEARINGS BEGIN IN NEW CASES AGAINST EGYPTIAN DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST REF: CAIRO 3166 Classified By: Minister-Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs William R. Stewart, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) As reported reftel, Saad Eddin Ibrahim (SEI),the prominent Egyptian-American democracy activist, is facing four separate lawsuits for "spreading false news," espionage, and attempting to harm Egypt's economy by calling for cuts in U.S. assistance to Egypt. On November 18, the first hearing in one of the new cases was held at the Al Khalifa Misdemeanors Court. According to SEI's wife, Barbara Ibrahim, the court ruled to postpone proceedings to December ¶5. It is currently unclear whether the hearings in the other cases pending against SEI will be heard at a unified court session on December 13, or whether the hearings in the different cases will be held separately on November 22, December 1, and December 8. ¶2. (C) Barbara Ibrahim told us that the family's approach to the hearings is pointedly "low key," so as "to not legitimize this." Flagging that "these are simply preliminary hearings, not the full-fledged trials," Ibrahim noted that she has asked representatives from various human rights organizations to attend, but that "for now" she would prefer there not be a U.S. diplomat in attendance. Ibrahim opined that the presence of a U.S. diplomat would likely draw unhelpful attention, "giving people fodder to assert that the charges against Saad are being proven." If SEI or her views on this change, Ibrahim will let us know. In keeping with Ibrahim's wishes, we do not plan on attending any of the scheduled hearings. RICCIARDONE