Pressure Mounts for Release of Poet al-Qaradawi from Lebanese Custody
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RDA Gulf Correspondent - . January 2, 2025
- . Update: January 3, 2025 10:50 am
Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian opposition figure wanted by Cairo was arrested by Lebanese officials when he arrived from Syria at the Masnaa border crossing. A group of attorneys and activists have demanded his immediate release.
According to a Lebanese court official, al-Qaradawi, a poet as well as the son of the late Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader was taken into custody over the weekend on an Egyptian arrest order.
According to the official, the warrant was “based on an Egyptian judiciary ruling” that sentenced al-Qaradawi to five years in prison in absentia for “opposing the state and inciting terrorism.”
Mohammed Sablouh, al-Qaradawi’s attorney demanded on Sunday that Lebanese authorities permit his client to communicate with his relatives. Al-Qaradawi is a citizen of Turkey, so Sablouh requested permission to visit Turkey.
“[We want to] establish that this person [al-Qaradawi] may be tortured in his country [Egypt], in an attempt to stop him from being handed over and returned,” he said.
The court official, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak to the media, stated that Lebanese officials “will ask the Egyptian authorities” to send Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi’s file for inspection.
According to the official, the Lebanese government would be tasked with making the ultimate decision when the judiciary recommends whether “the conditions are met for him to be extradited.”
The activists’ campaign intends to exert pressure on Lebanese authorities to uphold international norms pertaining to the protection of political dissidents and to stop their extradition to nations that could endanger their lives.
The well-known Sunni scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual head of the Muslim Brotherhood which is illegal in Egypt was al-Qaradawi’s father.
Due to his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, the late professor was repeatedly imprisoned in the Egypt before passing away in exile in 2022.
