Nine lawyers in Minya started an open-ended strike against working in front of the province courts, after being handed surprising sentences from Minya Criminal Court on Monday.
The court, headed by Judge Ahmed Mawood, handed five-year prison sentences to seven lawyers and ordered the retrial of the other two lawyers, all on accusations of insulting judges and the judicial system as a whole. One of the two lawyers facing retrial was handed a life sentence and the other a three-year prison sentence.
The lawyers’ case dates back to 2013, when they clashed with a judge named Ahmed Fathi during a rally arranged in front of a certain court in Minya. The judge filed a lawsuit against the lawyers, accusing them of not respecting the judiciary system and preventing him from performing his work.
The defendants previously were handed life sentences. Due to the lawyers’ strike against their work in Minya courts, 120 cases were postponed.
Despite reconciliation with the insulted judge, the lawyer received the aforementioned court ruling. The Lawyers’ Syndicate will take all legal procedures to appeal the court sentences.
The prosecution originally referred 22 lawyers to court for insulting judicial panel members; however, thirteen lawyers were released, while the other nine continued to face prosecution.
