40/90 Bob Ngozi Njoku / Egypt
The Facts as alleged by the Complainant
1. The communication is submitted by a Nigerian student who was in transit from New Delhi
to Lagos. He complains that at the Cairo Airport, on 20 th September 1986, while he was
waiting for his connecting flight, Colonel Mohamed El Adile of the Egyptian police stamped a
false entry visa for Egypt on his travel papers.
2. As a consequence, his luggage was searched. A suitcase bearing another person's name,
of a different weight than that recorded on his ticket, and for which he had no key, was
ascribed to him. The Egyptian police did not ask the airline to identify the owner of the
suitcase. Drugs were found in the suitcase.
3. In the presence of two Nigerian diplomats, Mr Njoku denied that the suitcase was his. A
police officer wrote down a statement in Arabic, which the three signed, without it having been
translated for them. The subsequent trial was held behind closed doors, without a translator
being present for the defendant.
4. Apparently, the Arabic statement signed by the Complainant contained the admission that
the suitcase was his. The Complainant did have a lawyer, but complains that the lawyer was
ineffective and appeared afraid of the judge. The trial lasted only 5 minutes and there was no
translator present. The Complainant was given a life sentence under a law specifying this
punishment for importers of drugs who have visas for Egypt, whose final destination is Egypt
and who cross into Egyptian territory. The complaint argues that none of these three
conditions applies to him, as he was a transit passenger with no Egyptian visa who wished to
remain in the airport. The Complainant's appeal was rejected.
5. Article 33 of the Egyptian Criminal Code prohibits the searching of transit passengers. The
Complainant argues that the interception and search of transit passengers is a common
practice by the Egyptian police, and has been condemned by Dr Adwar Gali of the Legal
Commission of Egypt. The former director of the Drug Enforcement Agency has stated that
the Egyptian criminal code nowhere provides for transit related cases and that Egypt is
intercepting people only because of international conventions on drug abuse.
6. The Complainant argues that the judge who sentenced him, Mr Anwe Gebali, believed the
testimony of the police colonel who forged the Egyptian visa in the Complainant's passport.