German NGO trial

The case went backwards and forwards for several months, but finally, on March 1, the nightmare was over. Seventeen staffers of foreign non-governmental organizations clambered into armored vehicles in Zamalek, a luxury district in central Cairo, and were taken off to the airport. Each of them had posted bail of 250,000 euros ($316,000) in order to be allowed to leave the country after they'd been charged with several offences. A US military aircraft flew them to Cyprus, and freedom.

Christina Baade of the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) was one of those being flown out. She'd been arrested in December 2011 during a raid by Egyptian authorities, and accused of being illegally in the country and of transferring money illegally from abroad. The KAS had allegedly transferred 1 million euros to a local organization - a sum amounting to twice the annual budget of the Cairo office.

Baade's boss, Hans-Gert Pöttering, head of the KAS, calls the accusation absurd. He told DW that Baade had held an Egyptian work permit which had been regularly renewed for the last 20 years. The KAS itself had been working in Cairo for 35 years.

Observers suspect political motives

The trial against the NGO staff is closely linked with the name of the current Egyptian minister for development, Faisa Abul Naga, who also held that post under deposed ruler Hosni Mubarak. It was during Mubarak's rule that she started the case against the NGOs. Some observers see personal revenge as the motive: in 2004, US NGOs decided to no longer channel their money through her ministry, rather to pay it directly to local organizations.

She said that was not legal, and that it would be necessary to take action against the policy. But it's seriously questionable whether this is correct. Critics say she was just annoyed because the fact that the funds were no longer going through her ministry gave her less chance to take a cut. Her close contacts with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who pulls the strings in post-Mubarak Egypt, may have been helpful to her in pursuing her campaign.

Local NGOs still under investigation

Noha El Sebaie, a political scientist and program coordinator of the Egyptian NGO Nahdet El Mahrousa, is certain that the country's military council is operating a strategy. "The military council is trying to destroy the revolutionary forces bit by bit," she said. After the uprising began in January 2011, it was the bloggers and activists who were the first to come to the attention of the authorities. They were arrested and tried. Then came the Copts and the NGOs.

Many organizations have now ceased their activities in Egypt; others, like the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, are functioning at a reduced level. And that's having serious consequences.

"Foreign NGOs were always the backbone of Egyptian civil society," Noha El Sebaie told DW. But they are dependent on money from abroad: "If you stop that, you stop the money for many local NGOs as well."

Her own organization is suffering. They've had to cancel projects and postpone conferences, and the situation seems to be getting worse. The justice system is currently investigating some 400 Egyptian groups - especially those that document human rights abuses.

But evidently, not everyone in the justice system is happy about the development. The case against the foreign NGOs has been adjourned four times already. It's up to the judges as to when a verdict will be issued - perhaps in a few months, perhaps in a few years.

Back to the cage

Unlike most of the accused, Christine Baade will be in Cairo to follow the case. She's been back in Egypt since the end of April, in spite of the threat of a five-year prison sentence.

"My children and my family are here," she told DW. "That's why I've come back." She's hoping that the case will get under way soon and be over quickly. "This uncertainty is exhausting," she said.

On Wednesday, she'll have to return to the little cage in the courthouse from which she has to follow the trial. This time, for the first time, witnesses will be heard. It's a significant day; it will show how far the prosecutors are prepared to cooperate, and whether her lawyers will be able to influence procedural aspects of the trial.

Meanwhile, in Berlin, KAS leaders are hoping that the Cairo office will reopen soon. Hardy Ostry, team leader for Africa and the Middle East, would like the Cairo office to continue to do what it's done for the last 35 years.

"After all," he says, "we have been with the Egyptians for a long time now, and we would like to accompany them on the road to democracy as well."

Author: Viktoria Kleber, Cairo / mll
Editor: Sonya Diehn