Human Rights Watch called on the Egyptian government to permit Ibrahim to travel abroad for medical treatment and to rescind the closure orders that have shut down the Ibn Khaldun Center and the Hoda Association since June 2000.

Tuesday's decision marked the second time in less than a year that the Court of Cassation threw out a Supreme State Security Court conviction of Ibrahim and his co-defendants on charges of accepting foreign funds without authorization, disseminating false information about Egypt, and fraud. Egyptian law requires that a third trial on the same charges must now be heard by the Court of Cassation itself. Ibrahim has been released and the three other defendants who were serving prison sentences are expected to be released shortly.

In both trials, the defendants had no right of appeal against the substance of the charges leveled against them, and could only appeal on points of law or procedure. A third trial, in which the Court of Cassation will for the first time consider the merits of the state's charges against Ibrahim and the others, is scheduled to open on January 7, 2003.

Following the second conviction, handed down on July 29, 2002, Ibrahim received a seven-year prison term. Nadia 'Abd al-Nour, chief accountant at the Ibn Khaldun Center, received a two-year prison term on the fraud charge. Two others convicted on separate forgery and bribery charges, had their original five-year prison terms reduced to three years. The remaining 24 defendants all received suspended sentences and were released. Human Rights Watch called on Egyptian authorities to return Ibrahim's passport to him and allow him to seek treatment abroad.

"Dr. Ibrahim's deteriorating health is a matter of grave concern," Stork said.

The Egyptian authorities have maintained a travel ban on Ibrahim, despite a significant deterioration in his health in prison, preventing him from seeking medical treatment abroad for a neurological condition.