§ Mr. DILLONasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he had received the particulars about the trial of Farid Bey which he undertook to procure from Egypt; and, if so, whether he would communicate them to the House?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir Edward Grey)Farid Bey was tried on 23rd January last by the Cairo Court of Assize, composed of three Judges of the Court of Appeal, who sit without a jury. These Assize Courts were instituted in Egypt by a law dated 12th January, 1905. Farid Bey was condemned to six months' imprisonment without labour. The offence for which he was tried and condemned was the writing of a preface in justification of a volume which contained a collection of poems, some of which constituted offences against the criminal law. Farid Bey appealed to the Court of Cassation on points of law. The case was heard on 4th March, and the appeal was rejected on 11th March.