April 28
EGYPT:
Brotherhood leader, 682 supporters sentenced to death in Egypt
An Egyptian court sentenced the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and 682
supporters to death Monday, intensifying a crackdown on the movement that could
trigger protests and political violence ahead of an election next month. In
another case signaling growing intolerance of dissent by military-backed
authorities, a pro-democracy movement that helped ignite the uprising that
toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 was banned by court order, judicial
sources said.
The death sentence passed on Mohamed Badie, the Brotherhood's general guide,
will infuriate members of the group that has been a target of raids, arrests
and bans since the army forced President Mohamed Mursi from power in July.
The movement says it is committed to peaceful activism. But some Brotherhood
members fear pressure from security forces and the courts could drive some
young members to violence against the movement's old enemy, the Egyptian state.
Badie was charged with crimes including inciting violence that followed the
army overthrow of Mursi, who is also on trial on an array of charges.
In a separate case, the court handed down a final capital punishment ruling for
37 others. The death sentences were part of a final judgment on 529 Muslim
Brotherhood supporters sentenced to death last month. The remaining defendants
were jailed for life, judicial sources said.
Death sentence recommendations in the case involving Badie will be passed on to
Egypt's Mufti, the highest religious authority. His opinion can be ignored by
the court.
Mass trials in the biggest Arab state have reinforced fears among human rights
groups that the government and anti-Islamist judges are using all levers of
power to crush opponents.
"The decisions are possibly the largest possible death sentences in recent
world history. While they're exceptional in scale, they're certainly not
exceptional in kind," said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director for Middle
East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch.
"It seems that these sentences are aimed at striking fear and terror into the
hearts of those who oppose the interim government."
In an early reaction from a Western government, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl
Bildt wrote on Twitter that the mass trials were an "outrage."
"The world must and will react!"
There have been Western reactions to Egypt's approach to dissent. But it mostly
comes in the form of statements, not action.
Egypt's relations with the United States--the source of $1.5 billion in annual
aid, most of it to the Egyptian military--have been strained in the 3 years
since the overthrow of Mubarak.
Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy is currently on an official visit to the United
States, describing it as a trip to "redirect relations between Egypt and
America."
The United States froze some of its military aid to Egypt in October after
Mursi's overthrow and the state's violent crackdown on his supporters.
Last week, Washington said it would deliver 10 attack helicopters to help the
government in its fight against Islamist militants in the Sinai Peninsula.
Monday's rulings can be appealed. Many defendants are on the run.
Nevertheless, the cases have raised new questions about Egypt's stumbling
political transition three years after an army-backed popular uprising ousted
Mubarak and raised hopes of a robust democracy.
The political turmoil that has gripped Egypt and an Islamist insurgency based
in the Sinai have hammered the economy, which grew by a meager 2.1 % last year.
"In a month, Egypt sentences more people to death than the rest of the world
combined. It is not the kind of news to rekindle confidence," Angus Blair,
chairman of business and economic forecasting think-tank Signet, wrote on his
Twitter feed.
Pro-democracy movement banned
As soon as word spread of the death sentences, relatives of the defendants
screamed and cried outside the court in the town of Minya.
"This is a corrupt government. This is a failed regime. We have no real police.
We have no real state," said Sabah Hassan, whose son was sentenced to death.
Others collapsed on the street as soldiers with AK-47 assault rifles standing
on an armored vehicle looked on.
Relatives blamed Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who deposed Mursi. The
former head of military intelligence under Mubarak is expected to easily win
presidential elections May 26-27 in a country long ruled by men from the
military, Mursi's time in office representing the rare exception.
"Sisi is ruling like a king" and "May God punish you for what you did" some
people chanted.
Authorities have extended a crackdown to secular activists.
A ruling Monday banning the activities of the April 6 movement follows the
imprisonment of 3 of its leading members last year on charges of protesting
illegally.
The charges against April 6 included "damaging the image of the state."
Authorities still see the Brotherhood as the most dangerous threat. Egypt's
biggest political party until last year, the Brotherhood has been outlawed and
driven underground.
It has vowed to bring down the government through protests, despite a security
campaign that has weakened a movement believed to have about 1 million
supporters in the nation of 85 million.
Despite decades of repression under one Egyptian ruler after another, the
Brotherhood has managed to survive, winning over Egyptians with its social
networks and charities.
The judge who handed down the death sentences, Saeed Yousef, has a history of
imposing the maximum punishment. In one case, he sentenced someone to 30 years
in jail on charges of shoplifting clothes and illegal possession of a knife.
He is not always tough on defendants. Last year, Yousef acquitted a police
chief and 10 police officers accused of killing 17 protesters during the revolt
that ousted Mubarak.
(source: Chicago Tribune)
*********************
Egypt unfair trial, death sentences make mockery of justice ---- A court in
Egypt today confirmed death sentences for 37 people.
Amnesty International today warned of grave flaws in Egypt's criminal justice
system after a court in El Minya, Upper Egypt, confirmed death sentences for 37
people and imposed terms of life imprisonment to 491 in one case, and ruled
that 683 individuals should be sentenced to death in another.
"Today's decisions once again expose how arbitrary and selective Egypt's
criminal justice system has become. The court has displayed a complete contempt
for the most basic principles of a fair trial and has utterly destroyed its
credibility. It is time for Egypt's authorities to come clean and acknowledge
that the current system is neither fair nor independent or impartial," said
Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa
Programme at Amnesty International.
"Egypt's judiciary risks becoming just another part of the authorities'
repressive machinery, issuing sentences of death and life imprisonment on an
industrial scale."
"The verdict must not be allowed to stand - the convictions of the 37 sentenced
to death and 491 sentenced to life in prison must be quashed and fair retrials
with no possibility of the death penalty must be ordered immediately for all
the defendants."
All 528 defendants were facing charges in connection with an attack on a police
station in August 2013 and belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement.
The verdicts in their cases come after a grossly unfair trial in which the
judge did not review evidence or allow the defence to cross-examine witnesses.
Defence lawyers and defendants alike were barred from the previous session on
24 March, in which the court indicated it would sentence all 528 to death.
Today, the same court also referred 683 defendants, including Mohamed Badie,
the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, in a separate case involving
political violence to Egypt's Grand Mufti - who under Egyptian law must review
all death sentences before the court formally imposes them. They were accused
of murder, attempted murder, burning Adwa Police Station, belonging to a banned
group and participating in a gathering of more than 5 persons with the
intention of committing the above mentioned crimes. This trial also was
fundamentally unfair, as reported by an Amnesty International delegate who
attended the trial.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and
considers it to be the ultimate cruel, degrading and inhuman punishment.
None of the defendants in either case was brought to court.
(source: Amnesty Internatnional)
****************
Turkish, German presidents criticize Egypt death penalties
In a joint press conference on Monday both Presidents called for a reversal of
the Egyptian courts decision.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul and his German counterpart Joachim Gauck on
Monday strongly criticized the death penalty ruling for 683 people by an
Egyptian court.
In a joint press conference, Gauck noted that the recent Egyptian court order
is "not understandable" and "worrying" for EU countries.
"We cannot understand such a domineering judgement by a temporary government to
a society in transition," Gauck said. "Especially in transition periods, a
superior jurisdiction system should be established rather than taking revenge."
Gauck also urged European countries and Turkey together to use all their
diplomatic means to call for "a more measured jurisdiction system" in Egypt.
"Such decisions are unacceptable in the 21st century. This harms Egypt's own
future. However, Egypt needs peace and economic development," Gul also said.
"We hope this people would be released and reopening of democratic and free
elections period in Egypt."
An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced 37 people from anti-coup groups to death
and 491 others to life in prison while referring 683 others to the country's
mufti for possible death sentences against them.
The court set June 21 to issue its verdicts against the 683 defendants.
Egypt's army-backed authorities have launched a massive crackdown on the Muslim
Brotherhood since Morsi's ouster by the army last July. In the 8 months since,
thousands of the groups' members and sympathizers have been arrested.
(source: World Bulletin)
*****************
Gul says death penalties unbelievable, unacceptable
President Abdullah GUl denounced on Monday an Egyptian court decision to
sentence 683 people to death, saying such rulings are "incomprehensible,
unbelievable and impossible to accept."
Speaking at a press conference with his German counterpart, Joachim Gauck, in
Ankara, GUl also said such rulings "harm" Egypt's future as well. "Egypt needs
stability, peace and rapid economic development. Therefore, I hope these
sentences will not be executed and all the prisoners are released," he said.
Noting that there is no death penalty in Germany, Gauck also said the decision
of the Egyptian court was incomprehensible and "worrying" for EU countries.
Monday's ruling sentenced 683 members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood
to death, a decision that could trigger protests and political violence in
Egypt. In a separate case, the same judge also upheld the death penalty for 37
of 529 defendants sentenced in a similar case in March, while he commuted the
rest of the sentences to life imprisonment.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the death penalty rulings were in
contravention of universal legal principles, including the right to a fair
trial and the right to life, and warned that they could harm Egypt's
international reputation. It also called on the international community to
raise its voice against these "unacceptable rulings."
Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek said it was worrying that new death penalties
had been added to the existing ones. "In today's world, death penalties are
unacceptable," he told reporters, adding that Turkey hoped the rulings would
not be carried out. "We are a country which has witnessed executions for
political reasons. Turkish society has not yet left behind the sufferings
caused by those executions," said Cicek.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc urged the US and European Union member
countries to strongly raise their voices against the Egyptian court rulings.
Saying Turkey has shown the necessary reaction towards the decision, Arinc
added that "all countries, particularly the US and EU member countries, should
also object to the death penalties."
"People being sentenced to death and the fact that they are about to be
executed is not only a disgrace for Egypt," said Arinc, adding that the silence
of other countries which do not object to this decision and don't speak out
against the administration over these sentences was very grave.
"I hope the Egyptian authorities will renounce this grave wrongdoing," added
Arinc.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had also previously lashed out at European
countries for remaining silent on the death penalties.
"Why aren't you talking about this [the rulings]? Is human life so cheap?'
asked Erdogan, calling on European countries to react.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had also previously criticized the death
penalty issue, urging Egypt not to implement the decision. "The death penalty
decision will not provide stability in Egypt, but will cause deeper
polarization," said Davutoglu.
(source: Cihan.com)
**************
African Commission orders Egypt to suspend death sentences.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (The Commission) has
requested that the Egyptian Interim Authority immediately suspends the
penalties of 529 people who were sentenced to death following a court hearing
in Minya, Egypt on 22nd March. The Order comes as part of a package of interim
measures, which were ordered following a complaint submitted by the Freedom &
Justice Party (JFP) on behalf of the 529 people sentenced to death.
The complaint submitted to the Commission by the FJP's international legal team
details serious violations of the African Charter and international human
rights standards. The complaint details how the Criminal Court in Minya
conducted a hearing that lasted less than one hour and purported to deal with
five hundred and forty five defendants on various alleged crimes including the
murder of a policeman in August 2013, the attempt to kill two other persons in
the alleged incident, damaging public property, illegal public assembly and
membership of a banned organisation in Egypt. The complaint states that despite
the complexity of the allegations the Court managed to find 529 defendants
guilty and collectively sentenced them to death.
The Commission has noted, in a letter addressed to the Interim Authority's
President, Mr Adly Mansour, that the 'number of people allegedly sentenced to
death is the highest recorded in the recent past from a single mass trial' and
'the manner in which the death penalty was imposed may therefore violate
international and regional standards'. It has asked the Egyptian Authorities to
answer charges that the trial of the men was a 'complete sham' and constitutes
'collective punishment'.
The Commission, which is a principle part of the African Union, also ordered
that Egypt upholds the African Union's moratorium on the death penalty and
allows those sentenced to death a proper appeal process. The interim Regime has
15 days from being notified of the Orders to report back on the implementation
of the measures.
The intervention by the Commission comes at a crucial point in legal process;
as the Grand Mufti of Egypt is due to confirm the death penalties on Monday
28th April 2014. The credibility of Egypt's legal system is at an all time low
as the Courts continue to mete out the harshest sentences for relatively minor
allegations without proper due process. On Sunday a Court in Egypt sentenced 11
supporters of President Morsi to prison terms ranging from 5 to 88 years for
participating in protests that followed the coup. Thousands of people including
members of the elected government, journalists and lawyers remain in detention
in very poor conditions, some of whom have alleged that they have been
tortured.
Following the July 2013 coup d'etat in Egypt thousands of protestors gathered
on the streets of Egypt to oppose the coup and show support of the democratic
process, which led to the election of Egypt's first non-military President. In
an unprecedented show of force the interim authority used extreme violence to
suppress the protests resulting in the death of over 2000 protestors and the
injury of many thousands more. The interim authority has failed to investigate
hold or anyone accountable for these actions, which have been described as a
'crime against humanity'.
Tayab Ali, Partner of leading London law firm ITN Solicitors who represents the
Freedom & Justice Party said 'We are very grateful to the African Commission
for taking such rapid and clear steps to prevent serious violations of
international law. It is hoped that the death penalties, which are clearly
being used to repress political dissent in Egypt, will now be prevented'.
The African Union is a collective of African States bound by their ratification
of the African Charter. Egypt is a member of the African Union and its
membership has been suspended as a result of the coup d'etat in July 2013. The
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is a principle section of the
African Union.
(source: World Coalition)
**********************
Ban alarmed by recent legal decisions which could violate human rights
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced alarmed at the news
that another preliminary mass death sentence has been handed down in Egypt,
where more than 680 people were reportedly on trial, a topic he will raise
later this week in a meeting with the Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Nabil Fahmy.
Today's legal decision follows the 24 March conviction of 529 defendants on
various charges, including membership of an unlawful organisation (the Muslim
Brotherhood), incitement to violence, vandalism, unlawful gathering and the
killing of 1 police officer. All the charges relate to events in August 2013
after the Government of President Mohamed Morsi was ousted.
"Verdicts that clearly appear not to meet basic fair trial standards,
particularly those which impose the death penalty, are likely to undermine
prospects for long-term stability," Mr. Ban's spokesperson said in a statement.
The Secretary-General is also conscious of the regional and security
implications of such sentences, and stressed that stability in Egypt is
essential for the overall stability of the entire North Africa and Middle East
region.
(source: UN News Centre)
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