CAIRO: Riot police resorted to violence to disperse protestors sitting-in at the Judges Club on Monday, with one judge allegedly beaten while at least a dozen were arrested. The attorney general’s official report, however, denies the use of force against demonstrating crowds.
“This incident sends a message to the judges . Yet physical abuse will not deter the judges [from doing their jobs]. And the abusers must be punished, Mahmoud Mekki, deputy to the Cassation Court, told the press on Monday. Makki is one of two prominent judges who were referred to a disciplinary board after they filed an official inquiry demanding an investigation of the 2005 presidential elections.
The two judges reported fraud and thuggery on the part of the National Democratic Party (NDP) in the balloting stations, adding that the supervising judicial entities were overshadowed by the government.
The judges allegedly leaked information during the election process to the press, including sightings of irregularities and aggression.
Last March, however, Cairo’s supreme justice council threw out the judges’ allegations, stripping six senior judges of their immunity and calling for an investigation into what had been termed their “false claims. Before the investigation ended, the Ministry of Justice demanded that the judges apologize and retract their allegations.
The incident sparked shock and criticism in the press, opposition and judicial circles; the council was generally believed to be backed by the NDP. The Judges Syndicate, Kefaya (Enough) movement and Muslim Brotherhood members staged protests in support of the judges who have demanded reform and judicial independence.
Last week, protesters set up a makeshift camp in front of their headquarters, tents and all, in a protest that continued until Monday. The protestors were surrounded by truckloads of security units and riot police in what was a gathering of thousands that overcrowded traffic in the downtown area.
On Monday, the police reportedly blockaded the crowds and started dispersing them, often using batons and force according to some eyewitnesses. One judge, Mohammed Hamza, was surrounded and beaten and transferred to a nearby hospital, where he spoke to the press about the incident.
On the other hand, several security members have reported they were “brutally beaten by some of the judges. According to the independent Al-Masry Al-Youm, one policeman claimed he was surrounded, beaten and carried away to be locked in the Judges Syndicate by four judges whom he later named and filed a complaint against in the Qasr El-Nil police station.
Ahmad Diaa, a top official in the Ministry of Interior, told TV host Amr Adeeb in his Cairo Today show that force was not used, echoing the report issued earlier by the attorney general almost verbatim. Diaa said that the protest and gathering were not authorized and that “something had to be done to remove the tents and break up the hordes of people.
“The attorney general has asked all of the officers present that day about the incident; no accusations have been directed at them. The attorney filed a report about this, said Diaa. “Only one person was arrested and the [protesting] judges were not indicted of anything. There are talks that one judge had a gun, but this claim is still being investigated.
“This [incident] means the fight will intensify between judges and pro-democracy groups on one side, and the government and interior ministry on the other, Gamal Eid, director of the Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo), told Reuters Monday. Eid also told Reuters that out of 15 protestors initially arrested, three were released and 12 remain in police custody.
Meanwhile, workers’ syndicates across Cairo have risen in support of the judges, threatening to carry out a work strike if the judicial system is not given full independence and freedom to investigate election fraud. In a similar stance, Muslim Brotherhood representatives in Egypt’s upper house said they unanimously “withdraw their trust in the minister of justice.
“The minister of justice has interfered in the affairs of the judicial system, misusing his authority, Hamdy Hassan, spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood faction in parliament, told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Following Monday’s violence, the New York-based Human Rights Watch published a full report on the judges’ case, vehemently condemning the government’s approach to the issue. “The government is punishing judges just for doing their job, Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch, was quoted as saying in the report. “It should be investigating the widespread evidence of voter intimidation, not shooting the messengers who reported the fraud.
“Egyptian authorities should drop threats to dismiss two senior judges protesting election fraud and investigate the violence and fraud that plagued elections last year, Human Rights Watch said today, read the report.
“The organization also expressed grave concern about a police attack against peaceful demonstrators outside the Judges Club . An eyewitness told Human Rights Watch that a large number of men, apparently plainclothes police, attacked around 40 persons who had been holding a round-the-clock vigil in support of the two judges threatened with dismissal.
“These crude attempts to intimidate judges underscore the urgent need for judicial reform in Egypt, Stork was quoted as saying.
