CAIRO — Rawda Ali, 30, doesn’t look like a criminal. She stands in the middle of the dingy cage that Egyptian defendants occupy during their trials, her head scarf is exceptionally fashionable, looking more like a Spanish wrap than traditional Islamic garb. She carries a designer bag. Her iPhone cover photo is of her flip-flops, one of the few things the security forces didn’t take when they raided the National Democratic Institute at gunpoint more than a year ago.
The charge she’s facing also isn’t typical. In a court that usually sees drug dealers and murderers, she’s the unwitting defender of democracy promotion, charged with helping Western nonprofit organizations operate illegally. While her Western colleagues fled months ago, she and 14 Egyptians may face years in jail for their efforts to promote democratic movements amongEgypt’s nascent political parties.
Even without a conviction, she’s paid a heavy price for trying to promote American values in a revolutionary Egypt.
Ali cannot work. Fellow Egyptians have branded her a felon and an American spy. A member of the parliament called for her execution. Her address and national identification number have been broadcast on state television.
With the American defendants gone, few outside Egypt pay any attention. She’s appeared in the cage 12 times, and the case against her has languished for more than a year. She’s known as defendant No. 27.
“You have been convincing people to trust democracy,” Ali said. “And you knew this was a risk. When something like this happens, you don’t leave.”
Hafsa Halawa, 26, is defendant No. 28. Like Ali, she’s frustrated by the length of the legalprocess and how the delay has put her life on hold. She’s frustrated that the American organization she worked for has left her and her fellow Egyptians behind to face these charges alone. The National Democratic Institute continues to pay her salary and the mounting legal fees, but only one American, Robert Becker, ever appears in the cage with them to defend a core American value, even though institute officials attend every hearing.
“I understand how they feel. It’s been frustrating and it’s been difficult to face the uncertainty,” for Egyptians and Westerners, said Leslie Campbell, senior institute associate and the regional director for Middle East and North Africa programs, who’s attended some of the sessions. “We continue to pay salaries, and we pay legal costs, and we will continue to do so until this case is resolved. In addition, we continue to raise thetrial and the issues of this case to the Obama administration and to members of Congress to encourage them to look for a resolution.”
Egyptian officials raided the Washington-based National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and several other organizations in December 2011, taking computers, money and files, and charging 29 Westerners and 14 Egyptians with working for an unregistered organization, even though Egypt had made it impossible to register. At the time, the raid was seen as the work of Fayza Aboul Naga, former President Hosni Mubarak’s minister of international cooperation, who, like Mubarak, saw the West’s promotion of civil society as promoting instability.
Ali began working for the National Democratic Institute six years ago as an accountant. After Mubarak fell two years ago, the institute expanded its operation ninefold. Ali moved to the political section and was in charge of educating centrist groups about what it means to work in a democratic country after a half-century of dictatorial rule.
She met members of President Barack Obama’s election team and stopped socializing, spending all her time at work. She wanted to be a part of the new Egypt.
“On the ground, we were incredibly warmly welcomed,” Ali said. Once the charges were filed: “Immediately, we were called spies.”
Shortly after the raid, which lasted six hours, Egyptian state security officials interrogated Ali. They accused her, she said, of threatening the Camp David peace accord with Israel and of worsening Egypt’s economic woes.
The U.S. workers also were charged, but after their names and addresses were made public, they moved into the U.S. Embassy. Ali faced her neighbors at home. The Americans left Egypt last March.
It’s uncertain how much longer the trial will go on. The next court date is March 6 and the trial is in closing arguments, but there’s no deadline for a verdict.
If convicted, Ali and her co-defendants face five years in prison. Under Egyptian law, the Americans who left will be convicted in absentia for not staying to face charges.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 01/20/2013