• EGYPT
  • August 20, 2014
  • 3 minutes read

Independence of the Judiciary Front: Public Prosecutor Ignores Junta Eavesdropping Crimes

Independence of the Judiciary Front: Public Prosecutor Ignores Junta Eavesdropping Crimes

The anti-coup Independence of the Judiciary Front (IJF) in Egypt denounced the current public prosecutor’s failure to act against wiretapping crimes committed ​​against opposition leaders, political activists and anyone who expresses dissent, as mobile phone operators collaborate with the junta security and intelligence services, who then broadcast private conversations on satellite TV channels in violation of the law and the constitution.


The latest of these crimes was the recording and ‘leaking’ of private calls made by the lawyer Osama Morsi, son of the legitimate President Mohamed Morsi, in clear indication of the absence of the law, the Constitution, privacy and justice under the military junta.


IJF pointed that many official ‘requests for investigations’ had been submitted by a number of human rights organizations and activists in December 2013 to the current Public Prosecutor (appointed by the junta after the coup) demanding an investigation into eavesdropping cases similar to Osama Morsi’s.


The prosecution service has not taken any steps whatsoever to investigate those cases to-date. It is evident that the public prosecutor wilfully neglects to perform his duty, and therefore he must be investigated himself, together with all those involved in such domestic wiretapping crimes.


IJF stressed that the right to private life is inviolable as guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitution and international covenants signed by Egypt. For instance, Article 309 bis of the Penal Code states that any assault on the personal freedoms or sanctity of private life of citizens is a crime with no statute of limitations, and stipulates imprisonment for anyone who eavesdrops on or transmits telephone conversations without consent.


IJF further explained that whether the wiretapping took place with or without court order, the secret recording and leaking of private conversations is a crime, a violation of the law that must be punished and all those involved in the crime tried.