The US State Department said that former Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi - who currently works on the International Monetary Fund board - should be granted immunity against a federal lawsuit filed by Mohamed Sultan, an American human rights activist of Egyptian origin, and holds him responsible for torturing him when he was imprisoned in Cairo, according to data Court, which was issued the day before yesterday, Friday.
The Washington Post reported that this decision came after accusations that the Egyptian government exercised a diplomatic pressure campaign to obstruct the course of the case against Al-Beblawy.
The newspaper reported that several US lawmakers and human rights groups accused Egypt of blackmailing the administration of President Donald Trump, by threatening to weaken their strategic partnership in the Middle East unless Washington intervened to reject the issue.
The Washington Post indicated that the Egyptian authorities had imprisoned Sultan's relatives since he filed the case, in what human rights organizations considered an attempt to silence him.
condemnation
"If the State Department has any discretion in this matter and chooses to use it to protect this man, it is a shame," commented Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski on the immunity granted to al-Beblawy.
If he was at the State Department, Malinowski added, his message to the Egyptians would be, "You can legally challenge this case and ask for help from us, or you can kidnap relatives of American citizens, and in this case, go to hell."
He noted that US law prohibits arms sales to governments that intimidate American citizens.
The newspaper cited a comment to Muhammad Sultan, who said that it was immoral for his government to intervene to protect those who tortured him rather than his citizen, adding that what the administration had done put him and his family at greater risk, and he expressed his intention to continue his efforts to achieve justice in his case.
Eric Lewis, who is Sultan’s lawyer, described the Foreign Ministry’s document as an unusual behavior, suggesting that the State Department had granted Al-Beblawy immunity at the request of Egypt.
"We are investigating the circumstances (surrounding the granting of immunity) and whether this is a retroactive classification to try to prevent his accountability in court, and we will continue to fight for justice," Lewis said.
For his part, a spokesman for the State Department commented that the safety of all US citizens abroad - especially those detained or imprisoned among them - is among the priorities of the State Department, adding that the ministry will not comment more on the issue that is still under consideration by the judiciary.