The judges presiding over the trial of leaders of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood stepped down from the proceedings yesterday, citing “uneasiness” over the trial, as the defense lawyers said the panel had come under pressure to hold the trial inside a prison.
The move forces the trial of 35 Brotherhood figures, including the group’s top leader Mohammed Badie, to start all over, though yesterday’s was only its second session.
The case is the first in what is likely to be a series of trials of Brotherhood members, including ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, whose trial on charges of inciting the killing of protesters begins on Monday.
Judge Mohammed el-Qarmouti from the three-judge panel at the Cairo Criminal Court announced the decision to step down just before the second session in the trial was to convene, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
He did not give a reason, saying only that the court “felt uneasiness.” He did not elaborate further.
Mustafa Attiya, Badie’s lawyer, said the judges decided to leave because they came under pressure by security officials to move the trial to inside Tora prison, where defendants are held.
“The judges refused, but the pressure continued,” he said. “This is not a trial, this is a farce.”
The court official could not immediately be reached to comment on Attiya’s account.
Since the trial began in August, it has been held in the Criminal Court’s chamber, but Badie and the other defendants did not appear, apparently for security reasons, for fear their presence would spark protests by supporters outside.
The defendants include six senior leaders, including Badie and his deputy Khairat el-Shater, the group’s powerful financier, and four other Brotherhood figures are on trial in the case on charges of incitement, stemming from June 30 clashes that left nine dead when Brotherhood members opened fire on protesters storming their Cairo headquarters.
MINERAL DEPOSITS: The Pacific nation is looking for new foreign partners after its agreement with Canada’s Metals Co was terminated ‘mutually’ at the end of last year Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of Pacific Ocean harboring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative seafloor deposits of cobalt, nickel and copper — recently inking a cooperation deal with Cook Islands. Kiribati opened discussions with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Limin (周立民) after a longstanding agreement with leading deep-sea mining outfit The Metals Co fell through. “The talk provides an exciting opportunity to explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep-ocean resources in Kiribati,” the government said
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
The head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, was sacked yesterday, days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he no longer trusts him, and fallout from a report on the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. “The Government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA Director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” a statement said. He is to leave his post when his successor is appointed by April 10 at the latest, the statement said. Netanyahu on Sunday cited an “ongoing lack of trust” as the reason for moving to dismiss Bar, who joined the agency in 1993. Bar, meant to
RSS