(Photo by: Ahmed Al-Malky)
Representatives from fifteen professional syndicates met at the headquarters of the press syndicate in central Cairo on Tuesday to discuss ways to support the independence of the judiciary.
Following the meeting, the press syndicate released a statement reporting that the coalition of professional syndicates discussed “the serious situation caused by the attempt by the ruling power, the Muslim Brotherhood, to implement obscene and unprecedented aggression upon the judiciary”. The statement cited the judiciary law being discussed by the Shura Council and described it as “suspicious” and “prepared at night amidst a climate of terror and away from the stakeholders”. The coalition added: “Its application will lead to the massive and widespread massacre of thousands of honourable Egyptian judges.”
The coalition accused the Brotherhood of waging a war against state institutions, “starting with the media, through to the police and the judiciary, also including the destruction of the national army”.
The coalition said that the judiciary law is “aimed at undermining the rule of law and depriving the Egyptian people of their inherent human right to real justice”. They added that this can only be achieved through an independent judiciary that is “immune to all forms of interference”.
The statement also included four decrees made by the coalition during their meeting. The first rejected the judiciary law and the second announced its “full support and solidarity for all actions and steps taken by Egypt’s judges to… resist this brutal aggression against the authority of justice”. The third decree announced a protest that will take place on Wednesday at 4 pm outside the press syndicate building and called for all members of professional syndicates to take part. The fourth decree said that the coalition will form a committee to continue monitoring the progress of the situation.
Egypt’s largest opposition bloc, the National Salvation Front (NSF), called for protests outside the Shura Council to oppose the judiciary law. Speaking on Monday, the NSF leaders also described the law as an “attack on the judiciary”.
The Judges Club criticised the Brotherhood and Morsi in a press conference on Monday following a meeting between the president and members of the club. Head of the Judges Club Ahmed Al-Zind criticised the judiciary law, pointing out that lowering the retirement age of judges to 60 would cause all but one of the existing judges in the Supreme Constitutional Court to retire. He also commented that demonstrations “insulting the judiciary” are nearly always planned by members of the Brotherhood.
