The Administrative Judiciary Court headed by Judge Yahia Dakrory, Vice-President of the Council of State, today rejected the contestation of WHRD Esraa Abdel- Fattah against the Attorney General's decision of her travel ban on the lawsuit that carried No. 25 465 of 69/ judicial year, against both the Attorney General and Minister of Interior in their capacity.

Ms. Esraa Abdel- Fattah ‘s lawyers included in the case that the decision is considered a violation of her freedom and autonomy, in addition to being an unjust use of authority, which rendered both material and psychological damage, as it was released as a violation of the law, Constitution and international treaties, especially that until now Ms. Abdel-Fattah was not notified with the reason of such accusations, nor was requested to attend any investigations and there is no any other verdict against her. Therefore, there is no legal justification for the ban to travel.

Background

Ms. Abdel- Fattah received a scholarship in Germany, for which she had prepared herself for travel, but she was surprised at Cairo International Airport that her name was on the lists of the travel ban, stressing that she was not informed with the decision or the reason she was banned for from traveling. Ms. Esraa’s lawyers submitted a request to the Attorney General to investigate if she is accused in any case, but the Attorney General informed them that there is no issuing of such decision. Ms. Abdel- Fattah’s Lawyer submitted a request to the Passports, Immigration and Nationality Authority to release a statement clarifying the Ban Travel decision issuing date, number, reason and the duration of that decision, and indicate whether it is valid permanently or not.

On the other hand, the State Litigation Authority Court Lawyers submitted documents that include a photocopy of Ms. Abdel Fattah travel ban decision, indicating that the decision was issued in November 16, 2013 based on the letter of the National Security Sector request to the Passports, Immigration and Nationality Authority, for the case known as” Foreign Funding case” which was being investigated since 2012 and allegedly many Egyptian activities and NGOs are being accused of establishing civil organizations without license and have access to foreign funding without permission.

Nazra for Feminist Studies finds it extremely unjust that the contestation of Ms. Abdel-Fattah's travel ban has been denied, and urges the Egyptian Authorities to take the necessary measures to immediately revoke the concerned travel ban, and announce the legal basis on which travel bans are issued against WHRDs and activists, in addition to announcing the names of those banned from traveling.

Nazra for Feminist Studies (http://nazra.org/en) is a group that is based in Egypt with special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). Nazra aims to build an Egyptian feminist movement, believing that feminism and gender are political and social issues affecting freedom and development in all societies. Nazra aims to mainstream these values in both public and private spheres.