A military court in Cairo postponed Sherif El-Hosary’s case to a 27 January session. El-Hosary is a civilian facing military trial on charges of possessing secret military documents.
Military intelligence officers arrested El-Hosary on 19 November 2012 and accused of holding confidential information about the armed forces on a computer hard drive; the hard drive was confiscated upon Al-Hosary’s arrest alongside other personal belongings.
El-Hosary says he is on trial due to a personal dispute with a retired army brigadier general whom he says reported him. He and the general had a financial dispute in which El-Hosary claimed the general owed him money.
A group of 13 unidentified men searched his house on 19 November and seized mobile phones and computer hard drives before arresting him. They took him to the military police headquarters.
El-Hosary said the hard drives do not belong to him and are the property of his clients, some of whom are military officers. He was detained for 45 days during which he stood trial in front of a military court before being released this week.
Article 198 of the new constitution allows for military trials for civilians in special circumstances “as regulated by the law.”
Over 12,000 civilians have faced military trials since the 25 January 2011 uprising.
