Judge Shereen Fahmy on Thursday will start hearing statements of people who submitted complaints against a group of judges from Judges for Egypt and the Independence Current.
Around 75 judges are being investigated, including former Prosecutor General Tala’at Abdullah, state-run MENA reported. The complaints accuse the judges of siding with the Muslim Brotherhood and siding with former President Mohamed Morsi. The complaints also say some of the judges have taken part in the pro Morsi sit-in in Rabaa Al-Adaweya, which is considered “working in politics.”
The complaints have been filed by judges in from the Judges’ Club as well as judges from several judiciary bodies.
Board member of the Laywers’ Syndicate Mohamed Damaty said: “All of these are political charges, whether the ones filed against the judges, Muslim Brotherhood leaders, or Morsi.”
Al-Damaty said he attended investigations with all of the Brotherhood leaders being held in Tora prison complex. “There is not a single charge that is backed by evidence,” he said.
Earlier this month, deputies to the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Khairat El-Shater and Rashad El-Bayoumy; former Supreme Guide Mohamed Mahdi Akef, president of the Freedom and Justice Party Mohamed Saad Al-Katatny, and Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Abdul Moneim Abdul Maqsoud were moved to Tora prison.
Judge Fahmy, who was assigned to conduct the investigation by the Ministry of Justice, will be conducting investigations on a daily basis before announcing the results.
Last week, the Judges’ Club revoked the membership of 75 judges for getting involved in politics.
On 23 July, the Supreme Judiciary Council asked Minister of Justice Adel Abdel Hamid to investigate the Judges for Egypt movement, accusing them of breaking judicial law.
Judges are not allowed to get involved in political life, which Damaty said he interpreted as meaning that they cannot join political parties. He considered judges’ commenting on an issue that concerns the nation, “a national act.”