CAIRO: The trial of alleged spy Mohammed Essam Ghoneim El-Attar resumes today, following a hearing on Saturday in which he claimed that he confessed under duress by security officers who tortured him, the press reported.
The High State Security Emergency Court overseeing the proceedings had adjourned the trial to give the defence attorney time to review the state’s evidence against El-Attar, an Egyptian-Canadian citizen.
El-Attar is being charged with spying for Israel and harming national interest. He was arrested on Jan. 1 at Cairo airport when he flew in from Canada.
Nabil Farouk, a researcher in intelligence and espionage affairs told The Daily Star Egypt he felt that El-Attar’s allegation of torture was more of a tactical ploy by the defence than anything else.
“I believe he said this on the advice of his lawyer, Farouk said, “torture is not so prevalent in intelligence services because the accuracy of the gathered information is vital. They care more about the truth than, say, the police.
Farouk added: “They [intelligence services] know that any information gathered in such circumstances cannot be trusted, so no intelligence is gathered by coercion. What they would do is surround him with knowledge and facts, showing him they know what’s going on.
Such an allegation, says Farouk, aims to negate the impact of the confession in the trial.
The court is also trying in absentia three Israelis identified as Daniel Levi, Kemal Kosba and Tuncay Bubay who are accused of being El-Attar’s case officers, the ones who recruited him and trained him.
Egypt has asked Interpol to arrest them.
The Israeli government denied any knowledge of this case or of the people involved and only heard about the story through the media.
Israel had also previously claimed that El-Attar’s case was an Egyptian attempt to divert attention from domestic problems.
Head of the Arab Affairs Committee at the People’s Assembly Saad El-Gamal countered this claim.
“Why would we create issues to hide others? El-Gamal told The Daily Star Egypt. “This kind of talk is an attempt to distract from the original case, which is that of a Mossad agent being caught spying for Israel.
Former Police General Mustapha Kashef had told The Daily Star Egypt that El-Attar was under observation for some time. His role was to gather as much information about Egyptians and Arabs abroad as possible.
“The essence of espionage is information. In intelligence gathering you try and find answers for who, what, when, where and why, he said.
The security prosecutor claims that El-Attar was recruited by Israeli agents in Turkey in August 2001. Israeli agents assisted him in obtaining residency in Canada under a fake name.
