Saad Eddin Ibrahim

Dr. Ibrahim, a sociologist, is the founder and director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, a Cairo-based organization that conducts research on democracy, civil society, and minority rights in Egypt and the Arab region.

In the summer of 2000, Egyptian security forces arrested Dr. Ibrahim and 27 of his associates from the Ibn Khaldun Center. All were taken to a Cairo jail cell and charged with deliberately disseminating false information, spreading malicious rumors about the internal affairs of the State, harming the image of the State abroad, and illegally accepting funds from the European Union. The charges were related to a documentary that the Center had created about voting rights and voter fraud in Egypt.

Dr. Ibrahim was released pending his trial at the Court of Cassation after serving over 500 days in prison. While in prison, Dr. Ibrahim did not receive sufficient medical care for a neurological disorder from which he suffers nor for a broken leg.

AAAS awards and honors:

• Science and Human Rights Reception, 2003.