In a statement titled “Travesty of Justice in Egypt” the US-based Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) condemned the death sentences issued by an Egyptian court against deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and a large number of other defendants including a CSID board member who was apparently sentenced in absentia. The CSID statement, which notably says very little about Dr. Morsi, begins:
May 18, 2015 WASHINGTON, May 18, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) condemns in the strongest possible terms the death sentences meted out today against its respected board member and world renowned scholar Dr. Emad Shahin, along with elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and over one hundred twenty others convicted for their peaceful opposition to the July 2013 coup, for their political views, or for their roles in the 2011 revolution. This manipulation of the justice system by mass incarceration and arbitrary and careless pronouncement of death sentences to silence political dissent and punish opposition to the current regime is happening at a pace and on a scale rarely, if ever, seen in human history. This miscarriage of justice further invites ridicule on account of its arbitrary nature; according to a statement issued today by our colleague Emad Shahin, ‘Ironically, two defendants sentenced to death today [are]already … dead and one has been in prison for the past 19 years.’
Dr. Emad Shahin is a renowned and respected scholar, board member at CSID, and professor with positions at esteemed universities around the world, including Georgetown, Harvard, and the American University in Cairo. His long commitment to the struggle for democracy, human rights, and national reconciliation in Egypt is a glowing and honorable record that speaks volumes.
Read the rest here.
The GMBDW reported yesterday that an Egyptian court had sentenced deposed Dr. Morsi to death in connection with a 2011 prison break out involving hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members.
The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) was founded in 1998 in what appears to have been a cooperative effort among the US Muslim Brotherhood, the US State Department and Georgetown University academic Dr. John Esposito who served during the 1990’s as a State Department “foreign affairs analyst” and who has at least a dozen past or present affiliations with global Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas organizations. In 2012 the GMBDW reported that Radwan Masmoudi, the founder and President of CSID acknowledged for the first time that he has been a part of the Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood since the 1980’s.
For a profile of CSID, go here.