Surat bantahan PAS kepada kerajaan Mesir

His Excellency Hani Abdel Kader Ahmed Shash
Ambassador
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
No 28 Lingkungan U Thant Off Jalan U Thant 55000 Kuala Lumpur

Fax no: +603-4257 3515

Your Excellency,

RE:UNJUST PRISON TERMS FOR KHAIRAT AL-SHATER AND OTHER MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD DEFENDANTS

I am deeply concerned about the unjust prison term of seven years which has been given to Khairat Al-Shater, third-in-command at Muslim Brotherhood (MB), in the trial verdict announced on 15 April 2008 in Egypt. Several of his co-defendants have also been sentenced to prison terms of between three to ten years.

I am shocked at this blatant disregard of justice and human right values that has been demonstrated by your country with regards to MB political activists in the past year. Mr Al-Shater and the other detained MB leaders, known in the Egyptian society for their good standing and reputable position, were arrested over accusations which they completely denied and denounced. They were subjected to trumped-up charges of terrorism, money-laundering and financing a banned organization with little or no evidence to substantiate these claims. This is evident from the fact that a civilian court absolved them of all charges, declared them to be innocent and ordered their release. However, they were re-arrested to be tried in a military court for non—military related charges. Their financial assets were ordered to be frozen. Many injustices and breaches of international human rights standards were reported throughout this trial.

Now, after spending over a year in prison, these innocent civilians have been given prison sentences for no apparent reason other than the fact that they used their right to freedom of speech and freedom of association to denounce the unjust practices of the current Egyptian government.

Your country is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and is obliged to provide freedom of expression and association to its civilians and uphold the rights of the detainees. Yet, in this case Egypt has sadly shown complete disregard for its international covenants.

I urge you to ensure that all MB detainees, who have been handed down prison terms, are immediately released and are allowed their right to peacefully express their political opinions and interests.

I look forward to an early reply.

Yours sincerely,

Dato' Seri Tuan Guru Haji Abdul Hadi Awang
President
Islamic Party of Malaysia