CAIRO: Defense lawyers and others representing the families of the martyrs as well as local journalists said Tuesday they were not given the promised permissions to attend the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday.
Lawyers and journalists were told that military intelligence will put up a list of approved names outside the court early on Wednesday. The trial will be held at the Police Academy in New Cairo, on the south eastern outskirts of the capital.
After learning the news, lawyers and journalists chanted “charade, charade” at the Appeals Court, in reference to Mubarak’s trial.
“One of the judges in the Appeals Court told us that military intelligence is responsible for reviewing the applications of lawyers. When I asked him what is the relationship between a civil trial and military intelligence he threatened to bring in the military police,” director of Arab Network for Human Rights Information Gamal Eid told Daily News Egypt Tuesday.
“Four lawyers from ANHRI are representing 16 families of the martyrs, 200 members of the families are allowed to attend, so why we are we not getting our permissions until now? I cannot say it is a lack of organization, there is collusion involved,” Eid claimed.
Lawyer Essam El-Batawy, representing former interior minister Habib El-Adly whose case was added to Mubarak’s, told DNE that he did not receive required permission either.
“No lawyer received any permission in accordance with what the head of the Appeals Court said. We were told that our names will be on a list hanged on a wall at the court,” El-Batawy said.
“If I cannot attend the trial, then the trial will be adjourned, because a defendant cannot be tried without his lawyer,” El-Batawy explained. “This will be in the best interest of the defendants,” he said.
Other lawyers, representing the families of protesters killed in the early days of the uprising that ousted Mubarak in February, expressed their concern that they might not be able to attend the trial, saying that legal procedure will be faulty if representatives of the families do not attend.
“Until now we did not get the permissions, and we really doubt we will ever get them,” lawyer Hassan Abo El-Einien told DNE.
“It is the military intelligence that is handling the issue, so we really don’t know what we can do if we are denied entry. We can be arrested anytime if we think of taking any action,” he added.
“This is the first time we face such difficulties. We attended El-Adly’s trials before and this never happened; uncertainty is the only certain thing,” he added.
Abo El-Eineen said the only action they can take if denied entry is to file a complaint against the court members.
Lawyer Moataz El-Hefnawy, also representing the families, reiterated the same complaints, saying that there are no guarantees that they will be able to attend the trial.
“We have nothing to guarantee that we will attend the trial, but all we can do is wait and see,” El-Hefnawy told DNE.
At a press conference Sunday, Chancellor Ahmed Refaat, head of the Cairo Criminal Court and the judge presiding over Mubarak’s case, said that lawyers of the families must apply for permission to attend the trial.
The foreign press center of the State Information Service said that 10 foreign journalists were selected to attend the trial, mostly representing news agencies. The rest would be granted entrance to the academy but not the main hall.
A screen is expected to be erected outside the court, but it wasn’t clear on Tuesday if it would. The government had said screens would be set up outside courtrooms to air the proceedings.
State TV will be airing the trial live. Other TV channels, previously allowed to broadcast the trials of former officials, were not allowed in Mubarak’s trial.
Mubarak, El-Adly and six security officials are facing murder charges.
Mubarak, his two sons and businessman Hussein Salem are facing corruption charges.
