The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it is committed to providing legal support to an Egyptian lawyer detained in Saudi Arabia, reportedly over narcotics possession.
Ministry spokesperson Amr Roshdy said the Egyptian Embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah are making urgent contacts with Saudi authorities for the release of Ahmed al-Gizawy, a lawyer and a human rights activist.
Gizawy was first reported to be detained for insulting the Saudi monarch, while a later statement by the Saudi Embassy in Cairo said he was apprehended at the airport in Jeddah for allegedly possessing narcotic pills.
Roshdy said Egypt’s consul in Jeddah, Maher al-Mahdy, had headed to visit Gizawy to check on his condition and to inquire on the legal support he needs.
Egyptian diplomatic missions abroad are committed to giving legal support to all citizens facing judicial problems abroad regardless of the circumstances surrounding their debacles, Roshdy said.
He added that Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr has directed the embassy and the consulate in Saudi Arabia to follow up Gizawy’s condition and to make sure he can exercise all his legal rights.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
