Saudi Arabia deporting Egyptian activist facing life imprisonment

For months, Ms. Sherryne Grace Badoui has been shuttling between police stations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with her two-year-old and ten-month-old children. She has been tirelessly seeking information about her husband, an Egyptian national, who has been facing the threat of deportation back to Cairo since last November. This situation has placed immense strain on her and her young family.

Mr. Ahmed Kamel has been held in a Saudi immigration detention center for several months and is scheduled to be deported back to Cairo this Wednesday. There, he will face a life sentence for his involvement in pro-democracy protests in 2011 and 2014. The impending deportation has raised serious concerns about his safety and well-being.

Human rights organizations warn that Mr. Kamel faces a high risk of torture if extradited back to Egypt. Mr. Kamel fled to Saudi Arabia in 2015 after being released from an Egyptian prison and completing a year of military service. Since then, he has been living in Jeddah, remaining politically inactive, even on social media. His quiet life has now been disrupted by the threat of extradition.

However, on November 12, 2024, he was arrested by Saudi authorities, who informed him that Interpol had issued a red notice at Cairo's request, and he would face extradition back to Egypt. Despite Interpol issuing a statement denying responsibility for the matter, Saudi authorities and the Egyptian consulate continue to insist that the organization facilitated his arrest. The conflicting accounts have added to the confusion and distress surrounding his case.

Mr. Kamel has since been held at the Shumaisi immigration detention center, awaiting his imminent deportation. Now, on the day of his scheduled deportation, neither he nor Ms. Badaoui has seen any official documents related to his arrest. The lack of transparency has further complicated their efforts to understand and challenge the deportation order.

Ms. Badaoui is exhausted from caring for two young children while navigating the labyrinthine and opaque Saudi judicial system. Her youngest child is learning to walk amidst all of this. "I have to talk, play, and smile, but it's the last thing I want to do. I feel so desperate," Ms. Badaoui told Middle East Eye. The emotional toll of the situation is evident in her words.

"It's so surreal to see that people can take your loved one away from your life so easily, for no reason." While the source of Mr. Kamel's extradition order remains shrouded in mystery, human rights organizations say the case bears the hallmarks of the Arab Interior Ministers Council (AIMC), a little-known body linked to a surge in politically motivated extradition of dissidents among Arab League states. The involvement of such a body raises concerns about the fairness and legitimacy of the extradition process.

In most such cases, authorities initially claim that Interpol is the source of the extradition order. Many victims never see an arrest warrant. Ms. Badaoui recalled a conversation with an official at the Egyptian consulate who insisted three times that Interpol had issued Mr. Kamel's extradition order. "He bent down, very close to my face, looked straight into my eyes, and kept repeating to me, 'Your husband will be extradited,'" she said. The persistence of this claim, despite Interpol's denial, is deeply troubling.

After some time, Ms. Badaoui was banned from entering the police station. Her lawyer brought them letters from Interpol stating that they had not issued an extradition order, but the police refused to accept them. Mr. Kamel's lawyer went to the police station multiple times to request information about the charges against him but was told that there was no file on him. Finally, on January 15, the police admitted that there was a file, but it was secret, and she could not view its contents. The obstruction of access to information has severely hampered their ability to defend Mr. Kamel.

Mr. Kamel had been arrested once before, in 2022, when he visited the Egyptian consulate for a background check to obtain a U.S. spousal visa. He was told that the arrest was based on an Interpol red notice triggered by kidnapping charges, but this was not listed in his Egyptian court summary documents. He was released three days later. The previous arrest adds another layer of complexity to his current situation.

But this time, he remains completely in the dark about the charges against him. Ms. Badaoui told MEE: "In 2022, the judicial system was functional. They detained him at Egypt's request... Ahmed denied the charges. They released him. Now, in 2024, after two children, they are destroying our lives for no reason." The stark contrast between the two incidents highlights the arbitrary nature of his current detention.

On November 18, an Egyptian court issued a stay of execution order, stating that Mr. Kamel was no longer required until the trial. Under Egyptian law, once a sentence is appealed in absentia, detention is suspended until the case is reviewed and a final verdict is issued. Yasmin Omar, an international human rights lawyer and director of the Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)'s "Democracy in the Affairs" initiative, told MEE: "So legally, he is free until the review session. He is being specifically targeted." The legal complexities surrounding his case are further compounded by the alleged targeting.

However, when Mr. Kamel's brother tried to submit the stay of execution order to the Egyptian consulate in Jeddah, they refused to accept it and instructed him to take it to Interpol in Cairo. The rejection of the document raises questions about the consulate's willingness to cooperate.

Mr. Kamel's Egyptian lawyer then took the document to Interpol in Cairo, who requested a second document, the court summary document from the Egyptian court. The bureaucratic hurdles and conflicting demands have made it incredibly difficult to navigate the legal process.

When the lawyer submitted the document, Interpol in Cairo informed him that they would respond to him in two days, but he never received a response. Mr. Kamel's lawyer and Ms. Badaoui then filed a request with the prosecutor on December 15 to release him, but the prosecutor dismissed the case, requesting that the Egyptian court issue a retrial date. The lack of communication and the dismissal of the case have left them feeling helpless.

On February 24, Mr. Kamel's retrial date was finally set, but they were unable to reschedule it because Saudi authorities refused to provide any documentation confirming his detention to submit to the court. "We are very worried that if we cannot reschedule, the judge may reinstate Mr. Ahmed's 25-year sentence, just because he missed the session, even if it is not our fault, because they will assume he is running away," Badaoui said. The potential for a severe sentence based on a missed hearing due to circumstances beyond their control underscores the precariousness of their situation.