An prominent Egyptian rights group has said an asset freeze imposed eight years ago on its director has been lifted, the latest twist in a 13-year-old case seen as a symbol of Egypt’s crackdown on civil society.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said in a post on Wednesday evening that a judicial order had been issued lifting the asset freeze which was imposed on its executive director Hossam Bahgat.
In March, the court dropped the case against EIPR and other four Egyptian NGOs and ordered the lifting of a travel ban on several of their workers, due to lack of evidence.
The asset freeze was imposed in 2016 as a “precautionary measure” in a case that began in 2011 against 85 local and foreign NGOs for accepting foreign funds without government authorization.
Three other EIPR workers remain subject to a travel ban and asset freeze in another case, EIPR said.
Critics and rights groups have repeatedly criticized President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi’s regime for suppressing dissent and harassing critics.
Civil rights in Egypt have been restricted since 2013, when al-Sissi, then army chief, deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi following massive protests against the latter’s rule.
According to human rights activists, tens of thousands have been imprisoned for political reasons.
The government has promised improvements as part of a human rights strategy. In recent months, dozens of detained dissidents have been released. But foreign parliaments have accused the government of not being prepared to carry out genuine reforms.
