Solidarity Movement
with “Judges against Oppressors”
Outcome of
Egyptian Police Oppression
24-29 April
2006
Until Saturday morning, the 29th
of April 2006, the following was the outcome of the Egyptian regime’s campaign
to oppress the political and democratic change movement which organized in
support and solidarity with the movement of Egyptian judges demanding the
independence of the judiciary from all other authorities, foremost the
executive authority:
Several have been arrested, 12 of
them have been referred to Kasr el Nil prosecution
office (case no. 5476/2006), the prosecution ordered a 15 days extension of
their imprisonment and based its decision on the authority of the state
security prosecution derived from Article 10 of the emergency law. Names of those arrested in this round:
Adel Fawzi
Taufik, Ahmed Fathi, Ahmed
Maher, Ahmed Salah, Ahmed Yasser
El Droubi, Bassem Hussein, Emad Farid Abdel
Latif, Hamada Ragab Mohamed,
Mohamed Mekki, Mohamed Sharkawy,
Nael Abdel Hamid, Yasser Ismail
Zaki.
II. Second round of arrests:
The second round took place on the
26th of April 2006. 16 individuals were summoned to state security
prosecution on the 27th of April in high state security case no. 415/2006,
which ordered a 15 days extension of their imprisonment. Those are:
Akram Ali Helmia, Bahaa Saber Hemeida, Gamal Abdel Fattah, Hussein
Mohamed Ali, Ibrahim El Sahari,
Kamal Khalil, Malek Mostafa Mohamed, Moh. Abdel Rahman
Kamel, Mohamed Adel Fahmi, Moh. Ahmed el Dardiri, Mohamed Fawzi Imam, Saad Abdallah Hamdi, Saher Ibrahim Gad, Sameh Mohamed Said, Sami Hassan Diab, Yasser
El Sayyed Badran
III. Third Round of arrests
The third and most violent round
took place on the 27th of April, which is the day of the judges’
extraordinary general assembly meeting. The day witnessed the climax of both
the solidarity movement of the judges and also the police aggression against
supporters. We do not have an accurate account of the numbers of people
arrested, but the following are the names of those who were interrogated by the
state security prosecution on the 28th of April 2006, all within the
same high state security case no. 415/2006, which again extended their
imprisonment of 15 days.
Ali Fathi
Ali, Ashraf Ibrahim Mohamed,
Emad Fahim Abdel Ghani, Fathi
Abdel Raouf, Hamdi Abou El Maati
Kenawi, Hani Lotfi El Sawi, Ibrahim abdel Aziz Abdel
Dayem, Ibrahim El Sayyed Attia, Karim
Mohamed, Mohamed Abdel Latif,
Wael Ahmed Khalil
On the same day another list of names
was brought to the prosecution. However they were not interrogated and until
now we have no information regarding the charges against them
nor their legal status. Those are:
Hamada Ragab
Ahmed, Ibrahim Mohamed Bahgat,
Fayez Hassan Oloum, Sayyed Hassan Abdel
Aziz, Ashraf Moh. Abdel Aziz,
Walid Gamal Arab, Mubarak
During the interrogations a long
list of other names were mentioned, charged of agitating demonstrations,
distribution of leaflets, destruction of public and private property and
blocking the traffic.
All of them are held in the high
security Torra prison.
IV. Fourth Round:
On the morning of the 29th
of April 2006 police arrested Ihab el Kholy and Amir Hamdi Salem, whose names were among those mentioned in
the interrogations. They have been released later in the day.
Charges:
The following are the charges
against the various protesters, with small variations among them:
-
Gathering o more than 5 people with the aim of disrupting the general
authority from carrying out its job.
-
Insult of the president of the republic using public means such as
shouting, chanting and writing.
-
Dissemination of provocation propaganda and malicious rumors which could
disrupt public security and cause damage to public interest.
-
Deliberate block of traffic.
-
Verbal aggression against police officers while carrying out their job.
-
Possession of leaflets prepared for distribution and printing tools (spray)
-
Destruction of some public and private property.
-
Blocking the roads without permission from relevant authorities.
-
Agitation to organize demonstrations, distribution of leaflets, and
block of traffic.
Legal base for charges
I. Criminal code
Article 179: Imprisonment for the insult of the president; Article
184: Imprisonment and/or 5000-10000 LE fine for insult of parliament, Shura council, army, courts, authorities or public
institutions; 15 years imprisonment/ with hard labor for deliberate block or
disruption of safety of public transportation;
Article 133: No more than 6 months imprisonment or no more than
200 LE fine for verbal or nonverbal insult or threat of public servant or
police officer or anybody in charge of a public service during exercise of job;
Article 102: Imprisonment and 50-200 LE fine for deliberate
dissemination of false news, information, rumors or agitating propaganda which
could disrupt public safety, disseminate fear among citizens or damage public
interest; also for possession of publications containing any of the above if
they were intended to show to others; also for possession of any tool of
printing, recording or publicity used, even if temporary, to print or broadcast
any of the above; Article 90: Imprisonment no longer than 5 years for
deliberate damage of public buildings or possessions or government buildings.
II. Law no. 10 concerning
gathering
Article 2: No more than 6 months imprisonment and no more
than 20 pounds fine for anybody who participates in a gathering of 5 people at
least planning to commit a crime or stop or obstruct the implementation of laws
and regulations or influence of authorities AND anybody who knew of the
objectives of the gathering and did not move away from it. Also, imprisonment
for no longer than two years and a fine of no more than 50 LE for anybody who
is carrying a weapon or any instrument which could be lethal if used as a
weapon. Article 4: Leaders of the gathering are subject to the same penalties
mentioned in article 2, are criminally responsible for any action done by any
of the participants even if they were not present at the time of the action.
The Defense:
-
Refused the interrogation by the state security prosecution for fear of
lack of impartiality and called for an appointment of a magistrate in
accordance with article 64 of criminal procedures law, in view of the political
nature of the charges and in view of the fact that the public prosecutor is
appointed by the despotic executive authority.
-
Unconstitutionality of the state security prosecution.
Egyptian
Association against Torture
Arab Network
for Human Rights Information
Institution for
Freedom of Thought and Expression
El Nadim Center