CAIRO — The year-and-a-half-long investigations, trial and sentencing of NGO workers in Egypt have been embroiled in politics, affecting both foreign relations and a draft law regulating civil society.
The June 4 sentencing of 43 Egyptian and foreign workers on charges of operating NGOs without licenses and receiving illegal foreign funding is the culmination of the xenophobic sentiments nurtured by different rulers during and after the Egyptian uprising. The case has been used to justify restrictions in a new draft NGO law, and the verdict could deter foreign organizations and donors that want to work in Egypt.
