Egypt’s mass death sentences show pressure on Judiciary, raise human right concerns

Mar 26, – On Monday, a criminal court in Upper Egypt sentenced some 529 people suspected of being “Muslim Brotherhood loyalists” to death over charges of assaulting police stations last year. Earlier the security forces violently dispersed two major pro-Morsi sit-ins, which left about 1,000 people dead and lead to the arrest of thousands more.

The recent ruling that handed down death sentences to more than 500 supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohamed Morsi has raised serious concerns on human rights in the turmoil-stricken country.

Egypt’s judiciary is rife with judges who are sharp opponents of Islamists, and they are operating amid a media frenzy demanding swift and harsh verdicts against the Muslim Brotherhood.

The result, judicial experts say, is this week’s stunning verdict sentencing hundreds of suspected Islamists to death after a cursory mass trial, a decision likely to be overturned but clearly intended to send a deterrent message.

On Tuesday 14 Egyptian human rights organizations issued a joint statement condemning the verdict as “dangerous and unprecedented transformation of the Egyptian judiciary and massive violation of the rights to fair trial and to life.”

“It took only three days for the court to decide to execute over 500 humans, raising questions about human rights in general and justice in particular, which is one of the most important pillars of the state,” said Mohamed Zarie, a lawyer and also a human rights activist.

“The judge is a citizen that lives in a society and can feel the nation’s pulse and knows that people are looking for quick trials,” Rifaat el-Sayed, the former head of Cairo’s appeal court, one of the country’s major courts, told The Associated Press. “If there is a mistake from a judge, there are means to correct it.”

The rulings Monday by a criminal court in the provincial capital of Minya brought heavy international criticism from the U.N., United States and European Union. Amnesty International called the verdicts “grotesque,” and Egyptian rights groups were stunned. The court delivered the sweeping sentences against more than 520 defendants after only one session hearing testimony — without hearing the defense’s case.

But the verdicts were hailed as a triumph for justice by much of Egypt’s media, which have been cheerleaders for the crackdown on the Brotherhood since the military’s July ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

“Let them be 10,000, 20,000 (sentenced to death),” presenter Ahmed Moussa declared on private Sada al-Balad TV. “Those who have killed, we shouldn’t be upset about them. Why are you upset, Mr. rights activist? Where were you when martyrs were killed? Dragged on the floor? … What do you expect from the judiciary? To give salute to terrorism? Or are you supporting terrorism?”

On Tuesday, the same Minya judge opened a second mass trial of 683 suspected Islamists on similar charges — murder and attempted murder in connection to an August attack on a police station. After one day of hearing witnesses — with defense lawyers boycotting the proceedings — the judge declared he would rule in the next hearing, on April 28.

The sentences, however, raised a red flag even within the judiciary, where many said they were certain the verdicts will be overturned because of irregularities in the trial. One current judge on a high-level court called it “an individual case” of a judge aiming to show “his political allegiance” and “send a particular message. He knows it will be annulled.” The judge spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because judiciary rules bar him from discussing another court’s case.

“But the manner and the way the session was managed has seriously harmed the reputation of the judiciary,” he said. Amid the uproar, the Justice Ministry issued a statement underlining that the judiciary is independent. It said the ruling was not a final verdict, saying the court can change it after the country’s top Islamic official, the mufti, issues his opinion on the death sentences, and that the sentences can be appealed before the Court of Cassation, which can order a retrial.

So far, there has not been a clear trend in the few verdicts reached so far in the multiple trials of Morsi supporters. One court sentenced 12 students to 17 years for rioting on university campus. In another trial of 62 Islamists on charges of violence during a Cairo protest, the court acquitted all the defendants for lack of evidence.

Egypt’s judiciary, made up of nearly 15,000 judges and prosecutors, has traditionally been one of the country’s strongest institutions. During the 29-year rule of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, the judiciary was stacked with his loyalists — many of whom remain in place and hold the top judicial positions. The government had considerable influence on promotions and advancement in the system, with Mubarak appointing the head of the constitutional court.

Press journalist for HRO media – Khizer Hayat contributed to this report.

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