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Death Sentence in Absentia of Egyptian Scholar Called Baseless

June 23, 2015

More than 40 academic colleagues of political science professor Emad el-Din Shahin signed an open letter of protest against an Egyptian court’s death sentence, handed down in a mass trial that lacked all elements of due process. CCS joined what appeared to be retaliation for Shahin’s pro-democracy stance.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi
Arab Republic of Egypt
c/o Embassy of Egypt to the United States
3521 International Court NW
Washington DC 20008

June 17, 2015

Your Excellency:

We write now in concern for Professor Emad Shahin.

Dr. Emad al-Din Shahin, a professor of political science who has taught at the American University of Cairo, as well as at numerous other American universities, including Notre Dame, Harvard and George Washington University, was sentenced to death in absentia on May 27, 2015. The sentence was delivered after a mass trial of associates and aides of former President Muhammah Morsi. Shahin, who is currently a visiting professor at Georgetown University, has denied the charges, and condemned the “sham trials,” in which death sentences have been handed down on “flimsy or no evidence,” according to him.

We join the numerous academics who have called the sentence “appalling,” according to the June 8, 2015 issue of the Mohamed Morsi. The signers of the letter said that Shahin was not guilty of any crime and is being punished for having spoken out for a more democratic and accountable political order in Egypt. We join our colleagues in demanding a fair trial for Professor Shahin and respect for his rights of free expression.

We urge you to investigate this case and to set aside a sentence against a respected Egyptian scholar that was pronounced without the most basic elements of due process as guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a signatory.

Sincerely,

Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich,
Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer

Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

Copies to:

H.E. Ambassador Mohamed Tawfik

Related articles
  • Scholars Protest Death Sentence for Egyptian Political Scientist (chronicle.com)
  • Convicted Egypt academic denounces ‘reign of terror’ (news.yahoo.com)
  • Sentenced to Death in Egypt (theatlantic.com)
  • Renowned Scholar in Egypt Charged With Espionage (nytimes.com)

Filed Under: Egypt Tagged With: Academics, Emad Shahin, George Washington University

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

Myles Axton, Chief Editor, Genetics and Genomics Next

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

David Gross, University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Giorgio Parisi, Roma I University La Sapienza

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, New England Biolabs*

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Former Honorary Board Members

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deseased) Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser (deceased), Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy (deceased), University of Pittsburgh

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

Louis Nirenberg (deceased), New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Myriam Sarachick (deceased), City College of New York

Harold Scheraga (deceased), Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Steven Weinberg (deceased), University of Texas, Austin*

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

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