The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information filed a lawsuit yesterday before the State Council against the President, urging him to dismiss Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and the Egyptian Ambassador in Saudi Arabia Mahmoud Ouf due to their inability or collusion by silence or negligence to force the Saudi authorities to release the Egyptian blogger Youssef Ashmawi. The two Egyptian officials even failed to illustrate the reasons behind his detention a hundred days ago in Riyadh.
The network had issued a press statement about Youssef Al-Ashmawi who has been detained without a charge in al-Ha'ir prison in Riyadh since last October 14. It expected that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry or the Egyptian embassy in Saudi Arabia would try to release him. In a statement yesterday, the network said it would turn the issue to a legal battle, giving citizens the right to call for dismissing officials, including ministers. For his part, CEO of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information and a lawyer of Al-Ashmawi said: “Officials at the Egyptian Embassy in Saudi Arabia have only made false statements on the efforts to know the destiny of Al-Ashmawi. His family has been waiting for long that the Foreign Minister would break his silence and announce the charges against Al-Ashmawi.”
