Human rights organizations in Egypt announce their full solidarity with Prof. Al Qemany and Prof. Hassan Hanafi, through signing on this joint statement. This followed the filing of lawsuit (no. 48575 / 63s) by Yousef Al Badry, a citizen, before the Administrative Court against the Minister of Culture and the Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Culture and the sheikh of Al-Azhar demanding the withdrawal of the award given, both material and moral, to both professors (Sayed Al Qemany and Hassan Hanafi) claiming that they only seek to attack Islam and its provisions
practices, symbols and insulting the Islamic faith in their writings, articles and interviews on satellite channels.
It is to be mentioned that in the beginning of last April Yousef El Badry acquired a verdict from the Administrative Court in law suit (no. 31339/61s) to stop the implementation of the decision to grant the poet Helmy Salem the State Award for excellence in Arts and the its temporary withdrawal pending the decision on the merits. The reason for this is that the poet published a poem entitled “Shurfit Laila Mourad ” (Laila Mourad ‘s Balcony), some of the stanzas of which were considered offensive to the Divine. Moreover, Al Azhar Scholars’ Front issued a press release on July 8th in which they stated that the “Minister came to do whatever he pleases with the nation’s religion according to his whims and bestows what is remaining from the State’s funds, racked by crises, on his follower apostles and friends in awards granted to them by the name of stricken State by him and his likes”.
The signatory associations warn from the Growing phenomenon of prosecutions for artists and intellectuals in Egypt. Human rights organizations are concerned from the Egyptian government’s negative position and giving up its commitments in the Egyptian Constitution and international agreements which ensure freedom of thought and expression, scientific research and freedom of belief according to the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
They also call for all the signatory associations as well as all those concerned including intellectuals, academics, writers, journalists and activists to announce their full and complete solidarity with Prof. Sayed Al Qemany and Prof. Hassan Hanafi in confrontation for this fierce attack against intellectuals.
Hisham Mubarak Law Center.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression.
