“No
journalist should undergo investigation in front of a military prosecution
authority or court, for according to the constitution, journalists have the
right, as Egyptian civilians, to stand for civil trials.” (Photo: Maggie Osama)
By:
Mohammed Kheir
[1]
Published
Friday, November 18, 2011
Cairo - The council of the syndicate of
journalists in Egypt has unanimously decided to refuse military trials for any
journalist.
Karem
Mahmoud, secretary general of the council of the syndicate, declared the
syndicate’s consensus that “no journalist should undergo investigation in front
of a military prosecution authority or court, for according to the constitution,
journalists have the right, as Egyptian civilians, to stand for civil trials.”
The
paramount decision of the syndicate comes at the height of the confrontation
between the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and a large
number of activists referred to military courts. The activists are strongly
opposed to the military trial of civilians. Alaa Abdel Fattah is the most
recent activist to be referred to military trial and comes from a renowned
family with a long history in the practice of law. He is considered a pioneer
of the Egyptian and Arab blogospheres. He was first arrested for dissent in
2006.
More
recently, Abdel Fattah has refused to answer any of the military prosecution’s
questions over its investigation into the Maspero case. Many Copt protesters
were killed in the Maspero massacre, along with an unknown number of soldiers.
Fattah refused to cooperate with the investigation as a matter of principle. As
a result, he was imprisoned pending further investigation, with a renewal of
his sentence only a few days ago.
The
famous blogger and activist’s imprisonment sparked a series of hunger strikes
initiated by his mother, Laila Soueif, who is also an activist, professor at
the University of Cairo, and the sister of well-known writer Ahdaf Soueif.
Egyptian
publisher Mohammad Hachem owns and manages a publishing house renowned for its
avant-garde literature called Dar Merit. He soon joined Soueif in her hunger
strike. A few days later, potential presidential candidate Bothaina Kamel also
joined the strike and was quickly followed by Rami Yahya, a popular Egyptian
poet and political activist who was also arrested several times.
Despite
the fact that SCAF issued statements on several occasions prohibiting the
referral of civilians to military trials, Egyptian law makes an exception for
cases in which one party involved is part of the military, as was the case with
Maspero.
In
light of such circumstances, the journalist syndicate’s decision increases
pressure on SCAF and makes any future decision to either refer or summon any
journalist for military prosecution difficult. The decision brings hope to
journalists for the future. Their first syndicate has finally become
independent after the revolution.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
Mohammed
Kheir
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