Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he plans to make to his Egyptian counterpart on press freedom in that country.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) made a statement on 23 June expressing his concerns and urging the Egyptian Government to demonstrate its commitment to freedom of expression by reviewing this case as a matter of urgency.

The Egyptian Ambassador Ashraf el-Kholy was summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on 23 June. FCO Political Director, Simon Gass told the Egyptian Ambassador that the British Government was deeply concerned by the verdicts, along with the procedural shortcomings seen during the trials. The British Ambassador to Egypt raised this issue in Cairo with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 24 June.

British Ministers and diplomats will continue to urge the Egyptian Government to demonstrate its commitment to freedom of expression.