CAIRO: The Military Supreme Court will review Tuesday the verdict of a two-year prison sentence handed to former editor of Al-Shaab newspaper Magdi Ahmed Hussein last February for illegally entering the Gaza Strip.
Hussein, head of the suspended Labor Party, was arrested in early February when he arrived at the Rafah border crossing after spending two weeks in Gaza. Authorities claim that he had entered Gaza illegally through one of the border tunnels.
Hussein had gone to Gaza to show solidarity with its people after Israel’s 22-day offensive on the strip last December. He was arrested immediately upon his return and later sentenced to two years imprisonment. He is serving his sentence in Al-Marg prison.
There is no appeals process in military courts, and a review of the verdict is the last resort in the appellate process. The court had not set a date for the review up until Hussein’s defense team paid a visit to the Military Supreme Court Authority in Nasr City last Tuesday.
Naglaa Al-Qaliuby, Hussein’s wife, had said in the wake of his sentencing in February, “The army that should be defending the people of Gaza is the one that is putting people on trial for sympathizing with the people of Gaza. This is a disgrace for the Egyptian army and its military courts.
Hussein had tried twice to enter Gaza, according to his wife, and was detained and sent back both times but was able to enter the strip on his third attempt through a breach in the border.
Mohammed Abdel-Quddous, head of freedoms committee at the Journalists’ Syndicate, also said at the time that trying civilians in military courts without proper legal representation and in the absence of an appeals process, was a grave error.
“What is evident in the manner of treatment Magdi was subjected to is that a military court is not suitable for civilians, he said.
