Egypt's Lawyer Syndicate said on Thursday in an urgent meeting that they are committed to providing legal assistance to Ahmed al-Gizawi, the Egyptian human rights lawyer who is detained in Saudi Arabia for allegedly smuggling drugs. Gizawi has a history of defending Egyptians detained in the ultra-conservative kingdom and had previously fought them in legal battles. The lawyers present confirmed that they will send a defense team to stand by the side of Gizawi, to make sure his legal rights are met, and that he receives a fair trial. Gizawi was arrested on April 17 while attempting to perform the religious Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi, accompanied by his wife and friends, when the airport authorities stopped him and arrested him for allegedly possessing some 21,000 illicit pills. The Saudi Embassy in Cairo said that Gizawi admitted to smuggling drugs and signed a confession. If convicted, he could face the death penalty, according to the Saudi criminal penal code. The news has outraged Egyptian society greatly considering the long history of detaining and abusing Egyptian workers in Saudi. Egypt's foreign affairs ministry spokesman Amr Roushdi said that the ministry is “tentatively” following the case. Roushdi said that the ministry is “seriously following the developments of the case” and making urgent calls with the Saudi side as part of its efforts to see Gizawi released. Egyptians are in an uproar over the arrest, and have made their point across social websites like Facebook and Twitter and have not only directed their attack against the kingdom, but at its people as well. Roushdi mildly criticized the attacks, saying that the ministry “understands how upset Egyptians are,” but urged them to think if these opinions will help or hurt the cause. The Saudi ambassador to Egypt had promised Egyptians good news late on Monday, in a phone call to the news program on the Orbit news channel, where he said the ruling is merely a “preliminary sentence” that can easily be appealed. Qattan also condemned the attack on his kingdom after scores of Egyptians expressed their anger at the detention of Gizawi.
