MESS

Egypt Nonprofit Trial Adjourned

For two months.

Egypt’s trial of 43 nonprofit workers—including 16 Americans—got off to a chaotic start in Cairo on Sunday when the judge abruptly adjourned the proceedings for two months. Judge Mahmoud Mohammed Shoukry even had to step out as lawyers and journalists frantically crammed inside the small courtroom. Without any hint of resolution, Shoukry put off the trial until April 26 to allow defense attorneys to familiarize themselves with the case. The workers of the nonprofit pro-democracy groups—including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood—have been charged with using foreign funds to foment unrest. American diplomats had warned Egypt not to go ahead with the trial, and officials on both sides were said to be in intense discussions to resolve the dispute behind the scenes.