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In a recent TV interview, Egyptian sociologist and human rights activist Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim said that the Egyptian executive authority was responsible for the death sentences recently passed on Muslim Brotherhood members. When pressed by the Al-Sharq TV interviewer to be more specific, he said: "You want me to say: Someone whose name begins with 'Al-' and ends with 'Si'?" The interview with Ibrahim, the director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, aired on May 7, 2014.
Following are excerpts
Interviewer: What is your view on the recent death sentences [imposed on Muslim Brotherhood members]?
Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim: I am against them. I am against the way the trial was held. It lasted for only a few minutes, and then the sentences were given. As someone involved in legal rights, I denounce this kind of thing.
There should be an appeal, and I hope there will be a just trial in the next two instances.
Interviewer: How do you think this unusual situation came into being?
Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim: I think that the judge… Of course, I wouldn’t want to criticize the court rulings, but I think that the judge found himself in a predicament. He tried to shake off his responsibility, and it was clear that pressure was exerted on him. So he issued these verdicts, thinking that the matter would be determined in the second and third instances.
Interviewer: Can I ask you what kind of pressure and by whom, without you thinking that I belong to the Muslim Brotherhood?
Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim: He faced pressure mainly from the executive authority.
Interviewer: When you say the executive authority, who are you referring to?
Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim: I don’t know! You want me to say…
Interviewer: I’m just asking.
Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim: The executive authority means the prime minister, the justice minister, the attorney-general…
Interviewer: C’mon, that prime minister?
Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim: What do you want me to say?
Interviewer: Tell me who…
Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim: You want me to say: Someone whose name begins with “Al-“ and ends with “Si”? You journalists are always…
Interviewer: That’s my job.
Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim: I won’t say what you want.
Interviewer: I’ll pretend that you have.
Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim: Fine. You set me up.
Interviewer: Absolutely not.
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