By Marwa Al-A’asar
CAIRO: The recently announced intention of two political movements to file complaints against a ruling army council member has raised questions as to whether it is possible to take an army officer to a civilian court.
Deputy Dean of Cairo University’s Faculty of Law Anas Gaafar told Daily News Egypt that “legally a civilian cannot prosecute an army officer before a military court.”
“Military officers can only be interrogated by the military prosecution and tried before the military court even if the opponent is civilian,” he explained.
“In such cases, all measures guaranteeing the transparency of the trial are taken,” Gaafar said, adding that the military court is an “independent judicial authority.”
Both the Egyptian Kefaya Movement for Change and April 6 Youth Movement had earlier announced their intentions to file complaints before the Prosecutor General against Major General Hassan El-Rowainy over his recent media statements about them.
Another law professor, Salah Sadek, argued that in such cases, any complaints are filed against a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) “in his capacity as member in the entity currently running the country not as a military officer.”
“Since SCAF runs the country, it can legally be prosecuted like the case with the lawsuits we used to file against ousted president Hosni Mubarak,” Sadek told DNE.
“The recent statements defaming these political groups represent a civilian rather than a military offense,” he added.
Sadek has represented protesters and worked closely with political groups and human rights organizations.
Many rights groups condemned the referral of thousands of civilians to military courts during and and after the mass protests that ousted president Hosny Mubarak. Gaafar explained that civilians are exceptionally tried before military courts when a state of emergency is imposed.
In the early hours of Saturda, SCAF accused in its 69th statement the April 6 Youth Movement of having foreign ties and driving a wedge between the people and the army.
Following the SCAF’s statement, the movement released a statement denouncing these claims and asking the council for an apology.
On the same day, El-Rowainy, also commander of the army’s central zone, reiterated the same claims, saying in a telephone interview with AlJazeera Mubasher Misr that the movement members were trained in Serbia and received funds from foreign entities.
He said he had evidence supporting his claims that he will later announce to the public.
April 6 official spokesman Mohamed Adel told DNE that the movement founders and leaders will go within the coming days to prosecution offices across the country, requesting to be interrogated over the SCAF’s claims.
The documantary by AlJazeera International featured a number of April 6 members talking about an international training they attended in Serbia about peaceful resistance. Interviews were conducted in the report with the two sides that showed them sharing experiences of political activism.
On the other hand, state TV broadcast a picture that showed Adel carrying a machinegun, claiming it was taken during the training in Serbia.
April 6 members responded in statements later that the picture was taken during Adel’s visit to Gaza in solidarity with rgw Palestinian cause. Adel appeared in the photo beside a woman wearing a headscarf. The picture, which was circulated in 2009, is available for everyone to view on the movement’s page on Facebook.
Such accusations fueled an earlier call for a march from Tahrir Square to the defense ministry on Saturday. On the way, the military police prevented thousands of protesters from moving forward as armed men attacked the demonstrators in Abbasiya.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Kefaya Movement for Change said it is in the process of filing a complaint before the Prosecutor General against El-Rowainy who said during the same interview with Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr that the movement is “not Egyptian.”
Sadek said the documents and videos supporting their complaints are being collected before it is officially filed.
“SCAF deals with the Egyptian people as being naïve, adopting the same rhetoric of the ousted regime,” Kefaya co-founder Karima El-Hifnawy told DNE.
“These political movements whose intentions are now questioned were the driving forces behind the revolution,” she added.
Kefaya was first established in November 2004 by about 300 Egyptian activists and intellectuals of diverse backgrounds. It called for political and economic reform, criticizing the extension of Mubarak’s presidential term, corruption and the emergency law active since the assassination of President Anwar Al-Sadat in 1981.
The movement achieved a much greater profile during the 2005 constitutional referendum and presidential polls, reviving street protests as a tool of opposition in the stagnant Egyptian political scene.
