DSE: Judicial crisis unfolds (Press Round-up)

Press Round-up
Judicial crisis unfolds

By Pakinam Amer
First Published: April 25, 2006

CAIRO: The crisis overwhelming the Egyptian judicial system continues to unfold, as next Thursday two judges face a disciplinary hearing before Minister of Justice Mahmoud Abul-Leil, national and international newspapers have extensively reported.
Hisham Al-Bastawisy and Mahmoud Mekki, the two high-profile deputies to the Court of Cassation, were referred to a disciplinary board after they filed an inquiry and demanded an investigation of the 2005 presidential elections.
According to the Media Line, which covers the Middle East, “The judges are likely to lose their positions … Talks between the Judges [Syndicate] and the Justice Ministry has so far fallen through.”
According to Media Line, the Judges Club has rejected an offer by Abul-Leil to “end the inquiry of the prosecuted judges, in exchange for the judges ending their protest and apologizing” to the supreme judiciary council.
Last year’s presidential elections witnessed tension between the government and the judges supervising the elections. Some judges, who had promised not to speak to the press during the elections, spoke to the press, allegedly leaking information concerning election fraud and illegalities that they claimed they had witnessed.
According to Al-Jazeera, “the Judges Club, a professional association of Egyptian jurists, rejected last year’s parliamentary election results as riddled with irregularities and influenced by aggression and acts of thuggery by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).”
The judges expressed their desire for reform and judicial independence. Convening in thousands at their headquarters, the judges announced their demands, which included supervision of Egypt’s upcoming elections without interference from the government. In response, the judges threatened to boycott forthcoming elections if they were not given full administration over the election process.
The judges have continued to appeal to the government with the same demands since December last year.
Last March, a government-controlled justice council responded by denying the judges’ allegations, stripping six senior judges of their political immunity. The council also called for an investigation into their claims.
The council’s reaction, commonly believed to be backed by the NDP and blessed by the government, sparked criticism and protests. The Judges Club, the Kefaya (Enough) movement, along with a number of opposition groups have been staging demonstrations ever since in support of the judges.
Meanwhile, opposition newspaper Al-Wafd reports that the Judges Syndicate had scheduled a Cairo street march to take place Thursday in objection to the judges’ hearings, which Al-Wafd has called “decisive” and “crucial.” “The judges will try the government … The reform hearing will become a trial of the government … The scandals and fraud of the elections will be revealed,” read Al-Wafd’s front page headlines.
In the national daily Al-Ahram, President Hosni Mubarak was quoted as saying that he “never interferes between judges,” denying claims that the government supports the investigation of the judges.
“This issue represents a dispute between judges; precisely those of the Judges Syndicate and the supreme council,” said Mubarak, adding that the judicial system is independent and that “the government has nothing to do with this [issue].”
In response to press reports that describe the situation as a “massacre of judges,” Mubarak said, “Such a massacre will never occur. Everyone knows how much esteem and respect I have for the judges … I greatly treasure Egypt’s venerable justice system.”
In their latest Egypt report, the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said they had “started their measures concerning the independence of the judiciary in Egypt, particularly the investigation with” Mekki and Bastawisy.
The organization sent letters to Mubarak and Abul-Leil expressing their concern about the case of the judges and their rights. The letter called for an end to the investigation of the judges and a guarantee of judiciary independence in Egypt.
In the meantime, even as Egyptians celebrate Easter, the judges and their supporters continue to protest Monday in a sit-in in front of the Judges Syndicate. During the hearings, the judges are scheduled to hold an emergency meeting. Their supporters, including the Kefaya (Enough) movement, promised to continue protests until next Thursday.
Link: http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1295