NDI Statement on Lifting the Travel Ban in Egypt

NDI welcomed the ruling by an Egyptian court to lift the travel ban on its employees as well as those from the International Republican Institute, Freedom House, the International Center for Journalists and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

NDI has cooperated with the Egyptian investigation and denies all of the accusations against its staff members.

The lifting of the travel ban has enabled NDI’s charged expatriate staff members to return to their home countries. The Institute said it remains deeply concerned about the welfare of its Egyptian employees.

NDI also said it continues to be concerned by the nature of the entire process, citing the raids on its offices, the confiscation of its materials, the interrogation of its employees and certain media attacks, as well as reports that as many as 400 Egyptian civil society organizations are being investigated.

The Institute hopes that all charges against its employees will be dropped and that its longstanding registration application for program work will be approved by the Egyptian authorities.

Read more:

• 18 former foreign ministers ask Egypt to end NGO prosecutions»
• Statement by NDI President Kenneth Wollack before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on "Egypt at a Crossroads"»
• Charges in Egypt to filed against 15 NDI employees»
• Facts on NDI's presence and programs in Egypt»

Published March 1, 2012.