Written question asked by Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 28 January 2015, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 2 February 2015 (named day). It was answered by Tobias Ellwood (Conservative) on Monday, 2 February 2015 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Egypt

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Egyptian government about the case of Karim Ashraf Mohamed al-Banna.

Answer: Our Embassy in Cairo is closely monitoring the case of Karim Ashraf Mohamed al-Banna. I raised the importance of protecting the human rights enshrined in Egypt’s constitution, which include freedom of belief and worship, with a number of senior figures in the Egyptian Government, most recently during my visit to Cairo on 12-16 January. UK officials also discussed the importance of religious freedom with the Egyptian Deputy Assistant Minister for Human Rights, Dr Mahy Abdel Latif, on 14 January 2015. Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers have been clear throughout recent events in Egypt that freedom of religion or belief needs to be protected. We deplore all discrimination against any individual on the basis of their religion or belief as well as constraints on their freedom to manifest their religion or belief. As article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Secondary information