A knock at the door brings in 30 people to ransack a house. Outside, 200 armed men surround the house and armored cars are in the driveway.

This was the scene outside of the home of professor Saad Eddin Ibrahim on June 30, 2000. Ibrahim, a professor of sociology at the American University in Cairo and the director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, was arrested by the Egyptian Police on four charges.

Ibrahim spoke to students and faculty yesterday at Ohio State about his experiences in prison and his three-year long trial. Ibrahim’s discussion was titled “A Social Scientist’s Reflection on a Prison Experience.”

Ibrahim is a civil rights activist. He and 27 of his colleagues of the Ibn Khaldun Center were wrongfully imprisoned in Egypt.

The Ibn Khaldun Center is a place for research, advocacy and activism. The main objective is the advancement of applied social sciences in Arab countries and the Third World with a primary emphasis on Egypt, Ibrahim said.

The group was charged with conspiring to bribe public officials to undermine the performance of their duties, receiving donations without prior permission from the correct authorities, deliberately disseminating false information abroad harmful to Egypt’s interests and defrauding the European Union, Ibrahim said.

“I was investigated on roughly 30 charges, interrogated on 50 charges and tried on four charges,” Ibrahim said. “At the time of my arrest, I was doing research on election rigging from the previous election and the discrimination of Christians in Egypt.”

On May 21, 2001, Ibrahim was convicted on all four charges and sentenced to seven years in prison. On appeal, Ibrahim’s case was brought back to the Security State Court in Egypt and again he received the exact same sentence of seven years. During his third trial in the Supreme Court of Egypt, Ibrahim and all 27 of his colleagues were acquitted of all charges and freed on March 18, 2003.

“In the second trial, I was more hopeful, but unfortunately, it produced the same result. I knew once I reached the Supreme Court of Egypt I would receive a fair trial,” Ibrahim said. “The Supreme Court of Egypt is independent of the executive branch in Egypt. Judges are elected by their peers, and they serve their terms for life or until retirement.”

In the court’s written decision, the justices condemned the Egyptian government for defaming Egypt, Ibrahim said.

“The result of the case had a good impact on Egypt. The government abolished Security State Courts and established a Human Rights Commission. They appointed the first women judge in the history of Egypt, all due to my acquittal,” Ibrahim said.

In prison, Ibrahim was placed in solitary confinement and had limited contact with anyone.

“I was separated from everyone. I could not give my wisdom to other prisoners; I could rarely read or write. When I was allowed to write, I took the opportunity to write my autobiography and scholarly articles.” Ibrahim said. “I communicated, sometimes, with other prisoners by passing notes in my laundry bag. I told other prisoners to write to people advocating non-violence and explaining the reasons for their imprisonment.”

Ibrahim had been to the same prison twice before he was sentenced: once for research on Islamic militants in prison in 1975 and the second time to speak to prisoners concerned about their civil rights while in prison, he said.

“I am very interested in democratization. I thought that Professor Ibrahim’s comments on non-violent doctrines towards direct social change while he was in prison may have changed his previous views,” said Umar Moulta-Ali, a graduate student in sociology.

The event was sponsored by the Department of Sociology, the Mershon Center, the Middle East Studies Center, the Department of Political Science and the University Honors and Scholars Program.

“We were very privileged to have professor Ibrahim here to speak to us today. He has been traveling and speaking to a number of universities in the U.S., and we were fortunate enough to be on his agenda,” said Katherine Meyer, professor in sociology.

Ibrahim read Malcolm X’s writings and memoirs sent to him by Nelson Mandella while in prison.

“I managed to avoid being hateful and bitter about my experience. I have resumed my activities as a researcher, activist and teacher,” Ibrahim said.

Stacey Runion contributed to this story.