Excerpt:
On Tuesday, political party NIDA Rotterdam requested a formal response from the mayor and city alderman in regards to Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb's silence on the execution sentence of a democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi of Egypt.
NIDA party officials understand that Mayor Aboutaleb's authority doesn't extend beyond the city limits of Rotterdam, however, Mayor Aboutaleb previously has not limited himself to only dealing with Rotterdam issues. In February, the mayor attended a conference at the White House. In April, he hosted Egypt's Grand Mufti, Egypt's religious authority, at Rotterdam's city hall.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International believe that the case against former President Morsi is flawed and politically motivated. Mayor Aboutaleb's press secretary stated on Monday that they do not see this as a "Rotterdam case". They acknowledge that they will be responding to NIDA's formal request.