The CEO of the nongovernmental organization Egyptian Democratic Academy, Hossam El-Din Ali, was stopped at Cairo International Airport on Saturday and barred from travelling to the United States, where he was set to represent Egypt at an international conference on ways to fight corruption. “For the second time,” Ali said in a written statement published on his Facebook page, “the regime has imposed a travel ban on me. I was invited by the US State Department to attend an international conference to combat corruption through legislations, but authorities informed me that I am subjected to a travel ban.” In a comment to Egyptian Streets, Ali said that the travel ban imposed on him “is in line with [the government’s] accusations of treason against civil society for the purpose of subduing it and making it bear the burden of the government’s failure to develop society as well as subverting civil society’s role in raising awareness of human rights and democracy.” According to his Facebook statement, Ali is banned from travelling for 16 months over issues related to his organization receiving funding from abroad. Hossam had discovered that a travel ban…
