Egypt rejects U.S. call to release activist accused of "exploiting street children"

Egypt has denounced a White House statement demanding the release of an Egyptian-U.S. activist jailed on accusations of "exploiting street children," local media reported.

In an official statement issued on Sunday, Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesman criticized the "insistence of U.S. official circles to undermine the rule of law and deal with it selectively, to the point where it is explicitly demanding the release of a defendant and the dropping of all charges merely because the defendant holds the U.S. citizenship."

Aya Hegazy, 29, and her husband, Mohamed Hassanein, an Egyptian national, have been in detention since May 2014.

According to Ahram Online, a local news portal, Hegazy, along with her husband, faces charges of involvement in human trafficking, kidnapping, and sexual exploitation and torture of children through Belady Initiative, a non-governmental organization.

They also face charges of running an unlicensed organization, Ahram Online said.

In his statement on Sunday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman demanded the release of Egyptian defendants serving sentences in U.S. prisons and the dropping of charges levelled against them.

A court hearing for Hegazy and other defendants in the case is set for November.

The Egyptian statement came two days after one by the White House, which called on the government of Egypt to "drop all charges against Hegazy and release her from prison."

At a press conference in Washington on Thursday, Hegazy's family also called for her release, describing the charges against her as "absolutely absurd and unfounded," Ahram Online reported. Endit