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Is Egypt's Trial of NGOs Setback for Democracy?

In December, Egyptian police raided the Cairo offices of 10 NGOs, including four American ones, accusing them of improperly filing registration paperwork and receiving illegal money from outside the country for political campaigns. Al-Monitor's Tulin Daloglu interviewed Robert Becker, one of the two Americans staying to fight the charges.
American Robert Becker of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) leaves the defendants' cage during the opening of their trial, in Cairo March 8, 2012. An Egyptian judge said on Thursday he was delaying until April 10 the trial of civil society activists including 16 Americans accused of receiving illegal foreign funds and pursuing their pro-democracy activities without a licence.  REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany  (EGYPT - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CRIME LAW)

UPDATE: After a brief session on Tuesday, Oct. 2  the trial's shortest so far  the trial was adjourned until Nov. 3, when the judge most likely will listen to closing arguments.

Amid the euphoria of the Tahrir Square revolution last year, the US-Egyptian relationship hit a hard bottom when the Egyptian police raided the Cairo offices of 10 NGOs in December, including four American ones — the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI), Freedom House and the International Center for Journalists. A total of 43 staffers, of which 19 were American citizens, were accused by mismanaging the NGOs by not filing the registration paperwork fully in accordance with Egyptian law, and therefore receiving illegal money from outside the country and spending it illegally on political campaigns.

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