Statements

Message from Dr. Saadawi and Dr. Hetata:

Dear friends and supporters,

Thanks to the efforts of people like you in Egypt, the Arab countries and other countries of the world the General Prosecutor announced to the morning newspapers appearing today, Thursday May 24, 2001 that he has decided to throw out the case raised by the fundamentalist lawyer against Nawal El Saadawi charging her with transgressing against the teachings of Islam and declared that he found no evidence of that charge in the interview she made.

However please note that technically there were two legal actions taken against Dr. Saadawi and that one of them is dropped while the other still stands. The case raised by the fundamentalist lawyer for separation between me and Nawal is still pending and the trial is on June 18, 2001.Of course there are chances that this case also will be thrown out after the General Prosecutors' decision, but we cannot be absolutely sure. Secondly we are transforming this campaign into a movement for the total abolition of the law of hisba which can be applied to others who are not in as strong a position as we are.

Thank you.

Nawal Saadawi and Sherif Hetata