As Five More Political Activists are Ordered to be Arrested in Egypt, it is Clear the Morsi Regime is Intent on Silencing Its Opposition, Says Ros-Lehtinen

Statement

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, made the following statement on issuance of arrest warrants for five anti-Muslim Brotherhood political activists and bloggers in Egypt this week. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

"The recent order to arrest five political dissidents clearly indicates a continuation of the deteriorating human rights conditions in Egypt under the Morsi regime, and only further cements the deepening mistrust between the opposition and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Egyptian people have a right to freedom, democracy and respect for their basic human rights, and the United States must hold Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood accountable for their atrocious actions.

"Morsi's regime continues its abuse of power by attempting to silence its political opponents through intimidation and abuse. By replacing the old prosecutor with his hand-picked collaborator last fall, and with the recent threat to impose measures to crack down on anti-government, anti-Islamic sentiments, Morsi yet again proves that he and his Muslim Brotherhood-led government are not living up to their obligations to respect the opinions of the opposition and pro-democracy advocates, but instead seek to create an Islamist state.

"This is yet another in a long string of incidents that reveal the true nature and intent of the Morsi regime. The Administration cannot continue to unconditionally send millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to a regime which completely disregards freedoms of speech, expression, assembly and freedom of the press, continually trampling on the human rights of its citizens. It must recognize that by continuing to provide unfettered aid to the Muslim Brotherhood it poses a security risk not only regionally, but to United States national security interests as well.

Note: Chairman Ros-Lehtinen has introduced H.R. 416 -- The Egypt Accountability and Democracy Promotion Act, which conditions U.S. aid to Egypt upon certification that Egypt is not controlled by a foreign terrorist organization, transitions to a free-market democratic government, adopts and implements legal reforms that protect the rights of all citizens, fully implements the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, and destroys the smuggling network between Egypt and Gaza.

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