Aya Hijazi

Aya Hijazi

Aya Hijazi, upon release from prison in Egypt]]
Born Aya Hijazi
(1987-01-23) 23 January 1987
Education Conflict Resolution
Alma mater George Mason University
Known for Belady Foundation for Street Children, Imprisonment in Egypt 2014-2017
Spouse(s) Mohamed Hassanein

Aya Hijazi (sometimes reported as Hegazy, Higazi, or other variants; Arabic: آية حجازي‎‎) is a social activist born to an Egyptian mother and a Lebanese father and carries the American citizenship. She studied Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University and law at Cairo University. During the Arab Spring and in 2011, she returned to her native homeland to establish an NGO, Belady - an Island for humanity, along with her husband Mohamed Hassanein.

Belady was meant to be a symbolic island where people from all strata in society meet and work towards a common noble goal. One goal was to help street children; simultaneously rescuing them, developing the skills of the volunteers who work with them, saving society from criminals in making, and providing a successful model of successful management.

Arrest and Imprisonment

In May 2014 the Foundation was raided and Aya, her husband, 17 children and two other volunteers were detained. A complaint had been made to the police by a man that his son had been held at the headquarters of the Foundation near Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. Accusations were made of sexual abuse, however a government forensic report found no signs of such abuse while the children were at the shelter. Aya's attorney's stated the accusations were forced from the children under duress. US Embassy officials were aware of the case and occasionally visited Aya in prison. Family and friends wrote to Senator Tim Kaine. In December 2016 in a letter from prison she wrote, "Do not leave us here in the jails and forget us, do not let us lose hope in justice and humanity."[1] Over 25 organizations released a joint statement calling for her release.[2] Around the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly, Hillary Clinton called for Aya's release during a meeting with the Egyptian President.[3] As late as March 23, 2017, Human Rights Watch reported that the verdict in the trial was delayed.[4]

Release

Aya, her husband and four other aid workers were flown back to the United States on Thursday April 20, 2017.[5] President Donald Trump met with Aya at the White House and discussed her release. [6][7]

References

  1. ↑ Heba Habib (14 Feb 2016). "How Egypt’s most famous jailed couple celebrated Valentine’s Day". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "25 Rights groups: The Belady Foundation case demonstrates that individual and community initiatives face only repression and fabricated charges". Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  3. ↑ "Clinton, Trump meet world leaders for very different reasons". CNN. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "Egypt: Aya Hijazi's Trial a Travesty". Human Rights Watch. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  5. ↑ Philip Rucker; Karen DeYoung (20 April 2017). "Freed Egyptian American prisoner returns home following Trump intervention". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "Trump welcomes freed US-Egypt prisoner Aya Hijazi to White House". BBC News. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Transcript of AP interview with Trump". AP News. Retrieved 25 April 2017.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.