The
Complainant
exhausted
his
last
appeal
in
March
1991.
Facts According to the Government of Egypt
7. The government agrees that on the date in question the Complainant was arrested in the
transit lounge at Cairo airport, and that the visa for Egypt was stamped in his passport only
so that he could be admitted into Egypt for investigations of the case, but that the time at
which he acquired the visa was found irrelevant by the courts. The government representative
stated at the 19th Session that the transit area is "a free zone for customs only", not for crime,
and under the anti-drug convention of New York, States parties may not permit individuals to
carry drugs into another State party.
8. The government states that the validity of the Complainant's arrest in the transit lounge
was raised by his lawyer during his trial, and that this was his first grounds for overturning his
conviction on appeal, but the Supreme Court refused his appeal and the conviction became
final.
9. The government states that the Complainant then availed himself of a special process by
which appeal to the attorney general is possible, and raised the point that the confession
attributed to him was not valid. The government said that in the attorney general's review of
the case it was found that the court did recognise that the Complainant had denied guilt in
the case; no confession was used.
10. The government states that the Complainant had access to all the protections of Egyptian
law, that during the investigations he was represented by a private attorney, a representative
of the Nigerian consulate, and during the trial he had a lawyer chosen by the bar association
and paid for by the court. As evidenced by the appeals brought before the High Court, the
Supreme Court, and the Court of Cassation, the lawyer did a competent job.
11. The government states that the Complainant was tried and convicted under the 1961
Egyptian drug law, which was in force in 1986. This law was revised in 1995, but the changes
made the law harsher and would not be to the advantage of the Complainant.
12. The government further claims that the communication is inadmissible because the
Working Group of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities of the UN decided not to take any action in respect of a communication from Mr
Njoku.