Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether it is planned that officials of his Department will attend the trial of Egyptian non-governmental organisations scheduled for 20 April 2016 in Cairo.

Representatives of the Embassy attended the previous hearing on 24 March, and plan to attend the next hearing on 20 April. We are deeply concerned by growing restrictions on civil society in Egypt. I encourage the government of Egypt to work with civil society organisations to implement the rights guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution and allow non-government organisations to operate freely.