Archive for military courts

Morsy: Citizens arrested by army during referendum to face civil trials

by admin
December 11th, 2012

A presidential statement on Tuesday said that any citizens arrested by the army during the upcoming constitutional referendum would be tried before a civilian court, rather than a military one.

The Armed Forces on Monday began to deploy troops in Cairo and other governorates to secure polling stations for Saturday’s constitutional referendum.

The deployment comes after President Mohamed Morsy on Sunday gave the military the authority to arrest civilians until the result of the referendum is declared. Under Morsy’s order, the military would support the police and liaise with them to protect “vital institutions.”

Morsy’s Tuesday statement was intended to combat “rumors that the decree allows the referral of civilians to military courts, which it does not in any way.”

The decree gave army officers the right to make arrests and transfer detainees to prosecutors.

The move was criticized by rights groups, who worried it would open the door for more civilians to be tried before military courts.
 

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Update: HRW, Amnesty criticize decision giving military arrest powers

by admin
December 11th, 2012

Human Rights Watch has called on President Mohamed Morsy to amend his decree giving the military the power to arrest civilians in order to prevent military courts from trying civilians.

The organization said in a statement on its website that the decision gives law enforcement authority to the armed forces without any measures to protect civilians from being referred to military courts, and said that anyone detained should immediately be transferred to Public Prosecution.

“Any deployment of the Egyptian military to help maintain security needs to be accompanied by guarantees to respect basic rights,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “President Morsy should be ending, not expanding, military trials of civilians.”

The HRW statement comes after Amnesty International criticized Morsy’s decision granting the army the power to arrest civilians in a report Monday.

Morsy issued the decision Sunday, saying it was necessary to assist the police in ensuring security for the controversial referendum on the draft constitution slated for 15 December. The draft constitution is bitterly opposed by secular powers.

The organization, in a report on Monday, called the new decree “a dangerous loophole which may well lead to the military trial of civilians.”

“Considering the track record of the army while they were in charge, with more than 120 protesters killed and in excess of 12,000 civilians unfairly tried before military courts, this sets a dangerous precedent,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.

Last June, former Justice Minister Adel Abdel Hamid issued a decree giving military intelligence and officers the power to arrest civilians.

Rights activists at that time said the decree threatened the rights of civilians. Later in the same month, the Administrative Court struck down the decree.

 

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Amnesty criticizes decision giving military arrest powers

by admin
December 11th, 2012

Amnesty International has criticized President Mohamed Morsy’s decision granting the army the power to arrest civilians.

Morsy issued the decision Sunday, saying it was necessary to assist the police in ensuring security for the controversial referendum on the draft constitution slated for 15 December. The draft constitution is bitterly opposed by secular powers.

The organization, in a report on Monday, called the new decree “a dangerous loophole which may well lead to the military trial of civilians.”

“Considering the track record of the army while they were in charge, with more than 120 protesters killed and in excess of 12,000 civilians unfairly tried before military courts, this sets a dangerous precedent,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.

Last June, former Justice Minister Adel Abdel Hamid issued a decree giving military intelligence and officers the power to arrest civilians.

Rights activists at that time said the decree threatened the rights of civilians. Later in the same month, the Administrative Court struck down the decree.

 

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Human Rights Watch: Qursaya residents should not face military judge

by admin
November 21st, 2012

The 25 Qursaya residents who were forcefully evicted and arrested Sunday should not face military prosecution, a human rights advocacy group said Wednesday.

New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch said in a press release that military prosecutors should immediately refer the residents of the island of Qursaya to the civilian judiciary. The group added that civilian prosecutors should also investigate reports that the military police used excessive force during the attempted eviction and lethal shooting of one of the island's residents.

The South Giza Prosecution on Monday referred investigations into fisherman Mohamed Abdu Abdel Mawgoud's death to military prosecutors. Mawgoud was shot twice, according to medical reports.

Military prosecutors have charged the 25 detained with assaulting the military and seizing land owned by the Armed Forces and ordered them held for 15 days.

"They came to the room where I was sleeping with my family," Human Rights Watch quoted local resident Ahmad Abdel Moneim as saying. "They threatened us and gave us two minutes to evacuate the room. When my cousins, Abdel Moaty Ahmed and Mostafa Ali Yassin, told the lieutenant that this is our land, he ordered their arrest, brought a tank of gasoline, poured it in the room, and set it on fire."

The Armed Forces is the registered owner of the land, a claim disputed by residents. In 2007, military bulldozers and troops stormed the island in an attempt to evict its several thousand residents. In 2008, the residents won an Administrative Court ruling that rejected a ministerial decree to evict them.

“The fact that the military is evicting people, arresting civilians, and bringing them before military courts is a serious challenge to civilian rule and President Mohamed Morsy should put a stop to it,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

The group reported that military courts tried more than 12,000 civilians in 2011 and convicted at least 9,000, including hundreds of political activists.

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Former Jama’a al-Islamiya leader wants pardon, not retrial

by admin
September 7th, 2012

Former Jama’a al-Islamiya leader Ahmed Refa’i Taha told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper Friday that he wanted to be pardoned, rather than released pending a ruling in a case in which he is accused of terrorist activities outside and inside Egypt.

The Beni Suef Criminal Court decided to release Wednesday four Jamaa al-Islamiya leaders pending a ruling in the case of the “Returnees from Albania.”

A military court had formerly sentenced the defendants to death.

The case was referred to a civilian court after Parliament amended the military judiciary law and canceled the president's power to refer civilians to military courts.

The Returnees from Albania are accused of being jihadists who flocked to the Balkans after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 under the pretext of supporting the resistance. Some returned to Egypt while others moved in the early 1990's to allegedly fight with the Muslim residents of Balkan countries.

The Egyptian authorities charged the defendants with attempting to overthrow a regime, killing civilians, and targeting tourism and Christians.

Along with Taha, Jama’a al-Islamiya Shura Council member Osman al-Samman, group leader Mostafa Hamza, and brother of former President Mohamed al-Sadat's assassin Showky al-Islambouli were released. The Beni Suef Criminal Court adjourned the case until Wednesday, 5 November to give the defendants’ lawyers time to study the case.

Taha expressed dissatisfaction with his release pending retrial.

“I wanted to get out in the first days of the revolution, and I wanted to go out with a pardon decision that includes all political prisoners; but unfortunately I was released pending a political case,” Taha said in his first statement after his release.

“[This case] is a huge insult to the revolution and revolutionaries…We are considered the first to fight the former regime, which nobody revolted against like us,” he added.

He expressed regret for how he and his colleagues were released from prison, saying, “We would like people to have shown some appreciation for those who opposed Mubarak and his regime.”

The transitional government led by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces issued a pardon for some leaders of Islamic groups following the 25 January revolution, and President Mohamed Morsy pardoned 26 Jama’a al-Islamiya and Islamic Jihad members in July.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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Protesters demand release of military detainees

by admin
August 31st, 2012

Dozens protested in Tahrir Square Friday demanding the release of all civilian detainees in military prisons, chanting the slogan, “Freedom is a popular demand.”

Dozens of activists staged a protest in Alexandria to call for the release of civilian detainees, minimum and maximum wage limits for government employees and meeting the rest of the 25 January revolution’s demands. They raised the Egyptian flag.

The No to Military Trials for Civilians group called on Thursday for a human chain on Qasr al-Nil bridge on Friday for two days to show solidarity with convicts and detainees in military prisons and to demand their release.

President Mohamed Morsy had promised to fight for the release of all detainees in military prisons during a speech he gave before thousands in Tahrir Square on 29 June. Morsy issued a decree to form a panel to review the cases of civilians detained by the military.

A presidential committee tasked with investigating the case of civilians convicted in military trials between 25 January 2011 and 30 June 2012 told Al-Masry Al-Youm on 20 August that it has finished investigating military detainees’ cases and now plans to investigate civilians convicted by civilian courts during the same period.

The announcement follows Morsy's recent pardon of a second wave of civilians convicted in military trials. Hundreds of prisoners were released in July as part of Morsy’s pardon for civilians who had been tried before military courts in events related to last year’s protests and uprising.

Still, activists say Morsy’s efforts fall short of stopping the military police. They have demanded that Morsy issue amnesty to all civilians convicted in military trials since January 2011.

Edited translation from MENA
 

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Committee finishes examining cases of military detainees

by admin
August 20th, 2012

 

A presidential committee tasked with investigating the case of civilians convicted in military trials between 25 January 2011 and 30 June 2012 said it has finished investigating the pleas for military detainees and will begin investigating civilians convicted by civilian  courts during the same period.

The announcement follows President Mohamed Morsy's recent acquittal of a second wave of civilians convicted in military trials.

Hundreds of prisoners were released in July as part of President Mohamed Morsy’s pardon for civilians who had been tried before military courts in events related to last year’s protests and uprising.

Spokesperson for the committee and member of the Committee to Protect Personal Rights Mahmoud Fawzy  said the committee inspected 500 out of 1080 pleas received by the National Council for Human Rights.

In the coming weeks, the committee will begin looking into cases of people convicted by civilian courts during the same period, Fawzy told al-Masry al-Youm.

The presidential committee lauded Morsy's most recent pardon of 58 people convicted in military trials.

The committee announced that it has started inspecting 2165 cases of people convicted in military trials.

It recommended the acquittal of 572 convicts and to alleviate sentences of 16 others. In a second stage it recommended the acquittal of 58 others.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm 

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Iftar before Tora prison to demand civilian detainees’ release

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August 11th, 2012

 

The April 6 Youth Movement will organize an iftar and a candlelight vigil in front of Tora prison Saturday in solidarity with civilian detainees who were militarily tried during and after the revolution.               

The movement released a statement Friday evening saying, “We will not forget [the detainees] and will not be satisfied with the status quo, as officials have the attitude of ignoring demands to release detainees.  The number of civilians tried before military courts has exceeded 12,000 citizens.”

The movement called on President Mohamed Morsy to re-try the detainees before a civilian court, and to immediately order the release of civilian detainees tried by military courts under “false charges.”

The statement contrasted the detainees’ plight to released Islamist detainees, for whom no committee was assigned to examine charges of terrorism and murder, whereas a committee was formed to discuss the status of those tried for events related to the revolution.

The April 6 Movement added that the iftar and subsequent vigil will be followed by other events in the coming weeks in solidarity with the detainees.

 

 

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457 prisoners tried in military courts released after Morsy pardon

by admin
July 23rd, 2012

Hundreds of prisoners were released Monday as part of President Mohamed Morsy’s pardon for civilians who had been tried before military courts in events related to last year’s revolution, from 25 January last year to 30 June this year.

Morsy had pardoned 572 civilians in military prisons for Ramadan, and so far 457 prisoners have been released.

While prison gates should be closed on holidays according to the law, authorities made an exception for the pardons.

Major General Mohamed Naguib, assistant to the interior minister, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the prisons sector has started implementing the president’s decree and prepared lists with the names of prisoners to be released.

Apart from those who have already been released, the list of pardoned prisoners includes 115 others who are to be transferred to police departments for involvement in other cases.

Sixteen other prisoners who had been sentenced to 25 years in prison had their sentences reduced to seven years.

Police sources said the committee formed to examine the detainees’ files had recommended pardoning prisoners on charges related to demonstrating or voicing their opinions. Prisoners convicted in cases related to weapons possessions, narcotics dealing or violence were not approved for release.

The president is expected to pardon close to a thousand more detainees for the same reasons in the near future.

Edited translation from  Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Jama’a al-Islamiya calls on president to release 34 political prisoners

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July 3rd, 2012

Secretary General of the Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Construction and Development Party Alaa Abul Nasr said that they called on President Mohamed Morsy to intervene to release 34 political prisoners held in Aqrab and Minya prisons.

The prisoners, according to Abul Nasr, are in need of care more than others who were imprisoned after the revolution. He criticized statements by the administration which stressed the need to release those who were jailed after the revolution, without mentioning those who were first to oppose Mubarak’s regime.

“The administration should release those [political] prisoners immediately, especially those who stood trial before exceptional military courts and state security courts. They ignited the Egyptian revolution, and they should be rewarded,” he added.

“It seems that the administration’s stance on this case is contradictory. We were waiting for an immediate decision after President Mohamed Morsy had took over power for releasing the prisoners and destroying Aqrab Prison, to mark the end of the era of injustice,” he added.

Among the prisoners are 10 who were sentenced to death. Seven of them belong to the Jama’a al-Islamiya, while the other three belong to Salafist Jihadism.

The state-owned Middle East News Agency quoted a judicial source as saying that only the president has the right to pardon any individual convicted by any normal or military court in the country.

On Monday, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Presidential Palace to demand that President Mohamed Morsy issue a general amnesty for the release of civilians sentenced by military courts.

Last week in his speech before thousands of protesters in Tahrir square, Morsy promised to work to free civilian detainees being tried by military courts.

Since the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took power in February 2011, at least 12,000 civilians were tried before military courts according to Human Rights Watch.

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