(AFP Photo)
Hamed Sadek, lawyer and researcher at the National Research Centre (NRC), filed on Tuesday a report to the Administrative Court calling for the cancellation of Adly Mansour’s appointment as chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC).
Mansour was declared interim president by General Commander of the Armed Forces Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi on 3 July.
In the report, Sadek stated that the SCC law states that the appointment of a chairman to the court requires a presidential decree and requires that the new chairman takes the oath in front of the president. Though Mansour’s appointment as SCC chairman was officially ratified by former president Mohamed Morsi before his ouster, Mansour took his oath in front of the SCC general assembly, one day after Morsi’s ouster.
Based on that fact, Sadek alleged that declaring Mansour as interim president was illegitimate and thus stated that all decisions taken by Mansour since his appointment are “void”.
Sadek also claimed in his report that the statement released by Al-Sisi last Wednesday, announcing the ouster of Morsi and his replacement with Mansour, was illegitimate. He stated that for such decisions to be made legitimate, they have to be published in the official gazette, which did not happen.
Seif Al-Islam Hammad, lawyer at the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre, confirmed Sadek’s claims. According to the law, Hammad said, the oath of the SCC chairman should be taken in the president’s presence, and decisions should be published in the official gazette to give them legitimacy.
“Yet, there is legal dispute over both subjects,” Hammad said. “Those decisions were made at an exceptional moment which dictated certain necessities. It’s up to the court to decide the degree of legality of such decisions, given the circumstances during which they were made.”
Sadek also filed a report to the Prosecutor General against Al-Sisi, Mansour and Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim, accusing them of violating human rights. He stated this threatened the safety of citizens, pushing many to flee their homes and take refuge in the squares where sit-ins are held.
The lawyer filed another report to the Prosecutor General against Al-Sisi, Mansour, Ibrahim, Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Pope Tawadros II, Al-Nour Party leading figure Galal Morra, Tamarod Rebel campaign founder Mahmoud Badr and National Salvation Front (NSF) leading figures Mohamed ElBaradei and Hamdeen Sabahy. Sadek accused the aforementioned of plotting the downfall of the state and its institutions which led to the absence of cabinet, legislative authority and an elected president.
In the 2011 trial of former president Hosni Mubarak, Sadek had alleged that Mubarak was dead and that the person facing trial was only the former president’s lookalike.
