Justice Observatory in Egypt .. 23-30 March 2023

Newsletter summary:

1. Interrogating 6 citizens from Sharkia governorate after they appeared from enforced disappearance for different periods of time, accusing them of joining a terrorist group and publishing false news.
2. Renewing the imprisonment of hundreds of citizens on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, and those imprisoned pending higher state security cases.
3. The trials of dozens of detainees before the terrorism chambers in Egypt’s criminal courts held in prisons.
4. Zagazig felonies released 4 citizens from Sharkia governorate for exceeding the maximum limit of pretrial detention.
5. Military appeals reduce sentences issued against civilians accused in the case known in the media as the case of Tala’i Hasm and Liwaa al-Thawra/ Hasm Vanguards and The Revolution Brigades.
6. Amending the provisions of Law No. 58 of 1978 regarding mayors and sheikhs and granting powers to the Minister of Interior to remove the mayor or district chiefs from office in accordance with the public interest.
7. Mr. President meets Minister of Justice to discuss and follow up on the efforts of the Ministry of Justice to expedite the completion of citizens’ cases before the courts.
8. Mr. President guides the concerned agencies in the state to amend the National Elections Authority Law to allow full judicial supervision of the electoral process.
9. The administrative court rejects the appeals of the people of Al-Warraq Island against the Prime Minister’s decision to establish a new urban community on the island.

 

The Newsletter in Details

1- Prosecution Investigations

Thursday 23rd of March

1. The Zagazig Prosecution interrogated Muhammad Maher Abdel Moneim from Sharkia Governorate – after he appeared from disappearance for about 7 months – on charges of joining a terrorist group and publishing false news and statements, and imprisoned him for 15 days.
2. The Kafr Saqr Prosecution Office interrogated Muhammad Al-Buhairi from Al-Sharqiya Governorate – after he appeared to have disappeared for about a month – on charges of joining a terrorist group and publishing false news and statements, and imprisoned him for 15 days..

Saturday 25th of March

The Prosecutor of the Second Department of Zagazig interrogated Eng. Alaa Abdel-Azim from Sharkia Governorate – after he appeared from an enforced disappearance that lasted 21 days – on charges of joining a terrorist group and imprisoned him for 15 days pending investigations.

Sunday 26th of March

1. The Ibrahimiya Prosecution interrogated Kamel Muhammad Mahmoud – after he appeared from a disappearance that lasted for about two months after the arrest from Cairo airport during his return from Saudi Arabia – on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news and statements and imprisoning him for 15 days.

Monday 27th of March

The Prosecutor of Hihya Center interrogated Muhammad Ahmed Mustafa Muhammad Moussa from Sharkia Governorate – after he appeared from a disappearance that lasted for 20 days – on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news and statements, imprisoning him for 15 days.

Wednesday 28th of March

Zagazig Prosecution Office interrogated student Muhammad Mustafa Tharwat from Sharkia Governorate – after he appeared from an enforced disappearance that lasted 35 days – on charges of joining a terrorist group, spreading false news and statements, imprisoning him for 15 days.

2- Detention Renewals:

Saturday 25th March

Terrorism Department in the Zagazig Criminal Court renewed the detention of 13 citizens in cases (1650 of 2021, 1405 of 2021, 481 of 2021) from Zagazig Center, Sharkia Governorate, for a period of 45 days, pending investigations on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news and statements.

Monday 27th March

1. Third Chamber of Terrorism in the Cairo Criminal Court, held in Badr Prison, considered in a session the detention renewal of dozens of citizens detained in pretrial detention pending cases No. 1175 of 2018, 1222 of 2021, 85 of 2022, 440 of 2022, 1644 of 2022, 1893 of 2022. High State Security and decided to imprison all defendants for 45 days.
2. The Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of Dr. Hamid Siddiq for a period of 15 days pending Case No. 2207 of 2021 Supreme State Security, in which he faces charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news and statements. It is worth mentioning that he was transferred to the pending case after his release in Case No. 1956 of the year 2019 Supreme State Security.

Tuesday 28th March

The Third Chamber of terrorism in the Cairo Criminal Court, considered, in a session the detention renewal of dozens of citizens detained in pretrial detention pending cases No. 623 of 2018, 1358 of 2019, 335 of 2020, 647 of 2020, 1022 of 2020, 383 of 2021, 484 of 2021 883 of 2021, 909 of 2021, 912 of 2021, 966 of 2021, 1935 of 2021, 1984 of 2021, 2064 of 2021, 2056 of 2021, 2121 of 2021, 2285 of 2021, 40 2022, 93 of 2022, 94 96 of 2022, 330 of 2022, 400 of 2022, 573 of 2022, 1436 of 2022, 1540 of 2022, 1635 of 2022, 1644 of 2022, 1645 of 2022, 1650 of 2022, 1691 of 2022, 1752 of 2022 , 1893 of 2022, 1940 of 2022, 1958 of 2022, 1977 of 2022 Supreme State Security, deciding to imprison all defendants for a period of 45 days.

Wednesday 29th March

1. The Third Chamber of Terrorism in the Cairo Criminal Court, held in Badr Prison, considered in a session the detention renewal of dozens of citizens who were detained in pretrial detention pending cases No. 640 of 2018, 1365 of 2018, in which the two journalists of the Al-Jazeera network, Rabih Al-Sheikh and Bahaa El-Din Ibrahim,  are detained 1555 of 2018, 706 For the year 2019, 977 of 2019, 1475 of 2019, 1956 of 2019, in which the journalist in Al -Jazeera Network Hisham Abdel Aziz, are detained 535 of 2020, 649 of 2020, 680 of 2020, in which  journalist at the Shbabik News website Medhat Ramadan, is detained 970 for the year 2020, 1006 of 2020, 1054 of 2020, 910 of 2021, 1869 of 2021, 2055 of 2021, 2215 of 2021, 2556 of 2021, 2739 of 2021, 2993 of 2021, 4 of 2022, 5 of 2022, 2 00 for the year 2022, 907 for the year 2022 , 1391 of 2022, 1473 of 2022, 1539 of 2022, 1634 of 2022, 1654 of 2022, 1660 of 2022, 1960 of 2022 Supreme State Security, which decided to imprison all defendants for 45 days
2. The Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of Baher Mahmoud Abdel-Azim, “Assistant Media Adviser to the Office of the Minister of Social Solidarity,” for a period of 15 days pending Case No. 392 of 2023 Supreme State Security, on charges of joining a terrorist group.

3- Releases

Sunday 26th March

1. Terrorism Chamber in the Zagazig Criminal Court released two citizens under the guarantee of  their place of residence in Case No. 205 of 2021 Misdemeanor of the Second Division, Zagazig, after they were held in pretrial detention for two years, which is the maximum limit for pretrial detention under Article 143 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
2. Terrorism Chamber in the Zagazig Criminal Court released two citizens under the guarantee of their place of residence in Case No. 4081 of 2021, Zagazig First Division, for the same reason, exceeding the maximum prison term.

4- Trials:

Sunday 26th March

Third Chamber of Terrorism in Cairo Criminal Court, in its session held in Badr Prison, postponed the trial of 14 defendants in the case known in the media as the second Al-Matariyya cell case to the session of May 28, 2023, in which the first and second defendants are accused of founding and assuming leadership of a terrorist group, and the third and last defendants joined a terrorist group established contrary to the provisions of the law. The third and thirteenth defendants provided material aid to a group established contrary to law. The third, sixth, seventh and thirteenth defendants possessed and acquired explosive materials with the intention of using them for a terrorist purpose. The third, eighth, eleventh, thirteenth and fourteenth defendants also possessed and acquired a firearm: a gun loaded, the sixth and twelfth defendants used a website on the international information network for the purpose of exchanging messages and issuing assignments between members of their terrorist group to which they belong. The Public Prosecution relied in referring the accused to criminal trial on the Penal Code, the Weapons and Ammunition Law, and the Anti-Terrorism Law.

Monday 27th March

1. Third Chamber of Terrorism in the Cairo Criminal Court, held in Badr Prison, postponed the trial of 19 defendants in the case known in the media as Assalam Riots case to the session of May 27, 2023. The defendants face charges of possession and use of explosive materials and fireworks without legal permission, assembly and causing chaos, possession of firearms and ammunition used in firearms without a license, and incitement to possess and acquisition of explosives.
2. Third terrorism chamber in the Cairo Criminal Court, held in Badr Prison, postponed the trial of 111 defendants in the case known to the media as the Tala’i Hasm/ Hasm Vanguard terrorist case.

5- Judicial rulings:

Monday 27th March

The Supreme Military Court of Appeals in the Tenth District of Nasr City decided to accept the appeal submitted by the defendants, amending the rulings issued in the case known in the media as the “Hasm and Brigade of the Revolution” case, to 10 years of severe imprisonment against 4 defendants, and reducing the sentence from 10 years of severe imprisonment to 7 years of severe imprisonment against 13 defendants, and amending the sentence from 7 years of severe imprisonment to 5 years of severe imprisonment against 5 defendants

Thursday 30th March

1. Chamber of Terrorism in the Hihya Misdemeanor Court of Appeal ruled to cancel the sentence issued against 4 defendants from the Hihya Misdemeanor Court in Case No. 2154 of 2023 Deyerb Negm Misdemeanour, deciding the non-competence and referring the case to the Deyerb Negm Misdemeanor Court, with the defendants still incarcerated.
2. The same court decided to annul the ruling issued against 4 defendants from the Hihya Misdemeanor Court in Case No. 2950 of 2023 Deyerb Negm Misdemeanour, again ruling the lack of jurisdiction and referring the case to the Deyerb Negm Misdemeanor Court, with the defendants continuing to be imprisoned.
3. The same court decided to annul the sentence issued against 3 defendants from the Hihya Misdemeanor Court in Case No. 3420 of 2023 Deyerb Negm Misdemeanour, ruling the non-competence and referring the case to the Deyerb Negm Misdemeanor Court, with the defendants continuing to be imprisoned.
4. The same court decided to annul the sentence issued against one defendant from the Hihya Misdemeanor Court in Case No. 2153 of 2023 Deyerb Negm Misdemeanor, again ruling the lack of jurisdiction and referring the case to the Deyerb Negm Misdemeanor Court, with continued detention.
5. The same court decided to cancel the sentence issued against 3 defendants from the Hihya Misdemeanor Court in Case No. 701 of 2023 Deyerb Negm Misdemeanor, ruling the absence of authority and referring the case to the Deyerb Negm Misdemeanor Court, with the defendants continuing to be imprisoned.
6. The same court decided to invalidate the sentence issued against 5 defendants from the Hihya Misdemeanor Court in Case No. 651 of 2023 Deyerb Negm Misdemeanor, again ruling the lack of jurisdiction and referring the case to the Deyerb Negm Misdemeanor Court, with the defendants still incarcerated.
7. The same court decided to annul the ruling issued against 4 defendants from the Hihya Misdemeanor Court in Case No. 1274 of 2023 Deyerb Negm Misdemeanour, again ruling the lack of jurisdiction and referring the case to the Deyerb Negm Misdemeanor Court, with the defendants continuing to be imprisoned.

6- Administrative and constitutional judiciary:

Monday 27th March

The Administrative Judicial Court ruled to reject the appeal No. 46990 of the judicial year 72 filed by the people of Al-Warraq Island against the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 20 of 2018, which includes the expropriation of the lands and buildings of the people of Al-Warraq Island to establish a new urban community on the land of the island.

7- Legislations and decisions:

Wednesday 29th March

The Official Gazette published in its Issue No. 12 bis (a) Law No. 16 of 2023 amending the provisions of Law No. 58 of 1978 regarding mayors and chiefs, according to which the Minister of Interior was given the right to issue a decision to dismiss the mayor or chief for reasons related to the public interest.

8- Statements and Declarations:

Saturday 25th March

The official spokesperson for the Presidency of the Republic published this on his official page on the social networking site “Facebook”, the results of the meeting of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, with Counselor/ Omar Marawan, Minister of Justice, to follow up on the efforts of the Ministry of Justice to speed up the completion of citizens’ cases before the courts within the framework of the comprehensive development of the state’s litigation system, and the process of enhancing the performance of courts at the level of the Republic, and the impact of this on the completion of delayed cases and ending their backlog, especially in courts of first instance, where there are no longer any cases heard before the courts of first instance, except for 6 cases in Family Court before 2021, and 2227 civil cases before 2020, which represents a tangible development compared to the conditions that prevailed for long periods.

Monday 27th March

The President of the Republic published on his official page on the social networking site “Facebook” his directives to the government and the concerned agencies in the state to study the proposal submitted by the National Dialogue Board of Trustees to make a legislative amendment that would allow the full supervision of the judicial bodies over the electoral process.

Comment

The partial and total prosecution offices in Sharkia governorate investigated citizens who were arrested in varying periods of time after their appearance from enforced disappearance and charged them and issued decisions to detain them in light of investigation memos from national security sector in the governorate according to which they joined terrorist groups, and those investigations did not indicate what group these citizens joined. It is worth mentioning that such reports written by detectives cannot, solely, be admitted as a valid evidence to accuse people, as they represent the opinion of their author.

– In the first paragraph of Article 143 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the legislator obligated the competent judge to consider the order of extending pretrial detention before issuing his decision to listen to the statements of the Public Prosecution and the statements of the accused, which was missed in all sessions for the detention renewal in cases investigated by the Supreme State Security Prosecution considered for three days before the Third Chamber of Terrorism in the Cairo Criminal Court held in Badr Prison, especially since the consideration of the renewal of detention is held electronically through a “video conference” with the presence of the accused inside his prison and his presentation to the court through a screen connected to the Internet with the presence of the security leaders responsible for the detention center of the accused, hence the court does not enable the accused to speak or hear his statements regarding what is attributed to him and enable him to defend himself in violation of the text of the article, such as the issuance of a decision to renew the detention of journalist Medhat Ramadan in Case No. 680 of 2020 Supreme State Security and journalist Hisham Abdel Aziz Gharib in Case No. 1956 of 2019 and journalist Bahaa El Din Ibrahim in Case No. 1365 of 2018 Supreme State Security.

– In a positive step, with which we look forward to more such decisions in terms of respecting the provisions of the law and activating its articles, Zagazig Criminal Court issued a decision to release 4 citizens from Sharkia governorate who were imprisoned after they were accused of joining a terrorist group, promoting the group’s goals, and spreading false news under the guarantee of their place of residence, as they bypassed the maximum limit for pretrial detention specified in the last paragraph of Article 143 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

– The Administrative Judicial Court closed the curtain on the appeal filed by the people of Al-Warraq Island against the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 20 of 2018 regarding the establishment of a new urban community on the land of Al-Warraq Island by rejecting the appeal. The lands and homes of the people of Al-Warraq Island are being expropriated in order to establish a new urban community, and the decision to reject the appeal increases the bitterness of the people of Al-Warraq Island, who reflected that the judiciary would do justice to them, which did not happen.

– Law No. 16 of 2023 amending the provisions of Law No. 58 of 1978 regarding mayors and chiefs and replacing the texts of Articles (23 / second and third paragraphs, 25, 26 / second paragraph), which gave the right to the Minister of Interior and for reasons related to the public interest to issue a decision to terminate the service of the mayor or the administrative chief after obtaining the approval of a committee consisting of the assistant minister of interior who is competent in geographical division, a member of the State Council and the attorney general or whoever takes his place and after hearing the statements of the mayor or the chief who is required to be dismissed. The dismissed mayor or chief is prevented from running for office again. Such amendment is a flagrant violation of the rights of mayors and chiefs, as the law does not specify what violations result in the dismissal of a person and depriving him of exercising his constitutional right and the use of a loose phrase, which is the “public interest” without clarifying what is public interest, also the law contradicts the judicial principle of proportionality of the penalty for the act.