Ali: I challenge any French party to prove torture of detainees in Egypt

MP Abdel Rahim Ali, the Director of the Middle East Center for Studies in Paris (CEMO) and editor-in-chief of Al-Bawaba New, asserted on Wednesday that any claims about political detainees in Egypt are “groundless”.

"I challenge any French media or political party to hold a live forum on air with me to talk about this, and I am prepared to confront any French political thinker who claims that. But this should be on air to talk about any individual who is politically detained in Egypt and prove any case of torture. I will resign from parliament immediately if such allegations are proved," Ali told a seminar organized by CEMO in Paris.

“That the French people talk about science and mere facts and evidence. Therefore, it is not right to talk about detainees under the name of ‘I knew from friends’ without giving a name of any of these detainees,” he asaid.

“There are 6,000 detainees from the "yellow vests", have not submitted to any judge until this moment, and they live in in a democratic country.  However, in Egypt all of the arrested people are held according to the Public Prosecution,” he added.

Titled "Human Rights at the Time of War on Terrorism and social Crises: Between Idealism and Realism", the seminar is moderated by Ahmed Youssef, CEMO's executive director.

Speaking at the seminar – apart from Ali – will be General Robert Pryce, the former commander of French troops in Yugoslavia, the former director of the Anfalid military museum, and the current president of the Napoleon Foundation.

Gilbert Sinuet, a French journalist and writer who accompanied French President Emmanuel Macaron during his latest visit to Egypt, will also speak at the seminar, along with Roland Lombardi from the French National Institute for Studies and Research of the Islamic and Arab Worlds.