The Egyptian Judges Club on Tuesday called upon the Egyptian people to continue supporting the judiciary “amid a brutal attack against the judiciary, its verdicts, and its affairs”.
It added that it will not exert any effort to defend the judiciary against a “wave of distortion”.
The statement did not mention a specific detail. However, last week discussions in the Egyptian parliament have been tackling whether a EGP 10 fee should be imposed on citizens to cover judges’ medical care. The suggestion was met sarcastically and critically, as judges’ salaries are significantly high. Other discussions increased a possible increase in their salaries.
The Judges Club, which acts as a syndicate for workers in the judiciary body, called upon media outlets not to be “platforms for whoever attacks Egyptian judges”.
Egypt’s judiciary is considered one of the main pillars of the state. On a social level, judges are highly respected and looked upon as “community leaders”.
The budget of Egypt’s judiciary, alongside that of the army and the police, are considered “state secrets”. In 2014, the justice minister refused to have the budget discussed publicly, and considered the proposal an “insult to judges”.
A considerable part of Egypt’s nationalist and anti-colonialist heritage and literature considers judges as part of the establishment of the modern Egyptian state, and the leaders of modernisation and enlightenment in the country.
