Sa’ad A-Din Ibrahim, 70, the most recognized critic of the Egyptian regime, told The Media Line the Egyptian people were waiting for a man like Obama to reach out to them.
“My message to him is, try to see real Egyptian people, not the staged official reception,” he said.
“If he has a message to give to the Egyptian people, it will be that he will stand by them for a more open society, a more democratic system, and for term limits on any president in the region,” Ibrahim said.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been in power for 28 years, making his rule the third longest in Egypt’s history, Ibrahim said.
“I think Egyptians are tired of that and worried about his schemes to groom his son to inherit him, à la North Korea. Egyptians are looking for a courageous head of state like Obama to speak out on their behalf, since they’ve done everything they can and yet can’t get rid of this authoritarian regime.”
Ibrahim was sentenced in 2008 to two years in prison for tarnishing Egypt’s reputation. But on May 25, an Egyptian judge overturned the verdict and acquitted him of the charges, after many months of failed appeals.
There is speculation that the change of verdict was linked to Obama’s upcoming visit to Egypt on June 4.
While in Egypt, Obama will deliver a policy speech addressed to the Muslim world, as part of his efforts to improve the image of the U.S. among regional allies in the Middle East.
Cairo is keen to prove to Washington that it is improving its human-rights record and incorporating reform and democracy, especially since Cairo receives a significant amount of monetary aid from the U.S.
Mubarak realizes his regime is being scrutinized on these matters and there have been proposals in the U.S. Congress to condition aid to Egypt on proof of reform and democracy.
Ibrahim’s wife, Barbara, echoed this speculation of a link between the verdict change and Obama’s trip in an interview with The Media Line a day after the verdict was overturned.
However, Ibrahim downplayed this theory, and said he preferred to believe the verdict was changed as a result of the independence and integrity of the judiciary system.
“I got a call from the White House congratulating me on the acquittal and I thanked them kindly. Whether they have direct pressure on the regime, I don’t know, but I’d like to think it was an independent judiciary that acquitted me rather than foreign pressure,” he said.
Ibrahim, a dual Egyptian-U.S. citizen and founder of the Ibn Khaldoun center for Development Studies in Egypt, is the most recognized Egyptian dissident, and has leveled criticism against the regime over its treatment of minorities, political prisoners, its human-rights record and lack of democracy in the political system.
He left Egypt in June 2007 and is currently in exile in the U.S., where he is a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
He plans to return to Egypt after the attorney general drops all other pending cases filed against him by the ruling National Democratic Party, a measure that is being negotiated by his lawyers.
“I’m hopeful that this will be the beginning of a new page with the regime that has been fighting me for the past 10 years,” Ibrahim said. “I look forward to upholding human rights and continuing my battle peacefully.”
Ibrahim has served time in prison because of his anti-government statements and activities. He was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2000 for charges that included illegally accepting foreign funds and harming Egypt’s reputation abroad.
But many said the charges were politically motivated and Egypt’s highest criminal court acquitted him three years later, under international pressure.
He has also had several brushes with death, prompting rumors that he is afraid to return to Egypt because of planned assassination attempts against him.
“I was very close to death on at least two occasions,” he said. “It was only providence that saved my life. If the regime is involved in this, there’s nothing I can do about it except for having the public eye on me and knowing that I am a target. If anything unusual other than natural death occurred to me I think the regime would be implicated.”
Once back in Egypt, Ibrahim does not intend to stop questioning the regime.
“As a public intellectual, that’s part of my self-tailored rule, to be a critic in a country that needs honest critics vis-à-vis the powers that be,” he said, adding that he had criticized policies of the last three presidents. "Many of the regimes ruling in the Middle East are authoritarian regimes and the people who are oppressed have no voice and are always looking for a free voice to speak on their behalf. I chose to be one of those voices.”