Ahmed Al-Zind, head of the Judges’ Club, was attacked after he held a meeting on the prosecutor general’s decision to rescind his resignation.
Al-Zind defended the judges and the independence of the judiciary during the meeting and announced that the Judges’ Club will hold a general assembly next Sunday at 4pm. He added that the judges have always defended the people’s rights and liberties and that, “they do not conspire against anyone. They only publicly express their opinions to defend the rule of the law and the independence of the judiciary.”
The Judges’ Club was among several other judges’ groups that refused to oversee the referendum because they felt that the independence of the judiciary was threatened. Al-Zind has been among the fiercest critics of the 21 November constitutional declaration, issued by President Mohamed Morsy.
On his way out of the meeting, Al-Zind was assaulted by around a dozen people, three of which were arrested. According to state-run paper, Al-Ahram, one of the arrested is a Palestinian national.
The attackers threw rocks at him when he was trying to get into his car, leaving Al-Zind with an injury under his left eye. He was taken to a hospital and kept under observation.
The head of the Judges’ Club in Assiut and the Judges’ Club in Mansoura have both condemned the attack on Al-Zind.
Ahmed Sobei, a spokesperson for the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, said that his party rejects what happened to Al-Zind, even if they do not share a common ideology. “Violence is completely rejected,” Sobei said, adding that violence does not represent the Egyptian people or the revolution.
Sobei called on the general prosecution to speed up investigations to find the group that wants to harm this country.
Heba Yassin, media spokesperson of the Popular Current, an opposition group, also rejected the use of violence. “This proves the continuation of a policy of assaulting citizens, with no response from the presidency and from the institutions of the state,” she said.
“If Morsy is the president of all Egyptians he would have taken responsibility for what happened. But, he is the president of the Brotherhood only,” she added.
