Popular Tribunal To Try Police Officers Accused of Torture

A conference was held Thursday June 27th 2006, at the Egyptian Press Syndicate, where participants announced the creation of  popular tribunals  to try officers accused of torture of detainees. Chief Justice Mahmood el Khodairy, the Chairman of the Alexandria Judges’ Club, and the deputy chairman of the Court of Cassation, stated to Ikhwanweb “This tribunal will hold accountable any official involved in crimes against the Egyptian people”


Chief Justice Mahmood el Khodairy also disclosed the actual reason behind the extension of the Emergency Law, saying  that the aim was not to combat terrorism but to silence voices of freedom, citing the acts of hooliganism, detentions and tortures perpetrated by the security authorities  against people whose only crime is that they  call for freedom and democracy.


He deplored the position of the prosecution toward these unjustified inhumanities, calling for all citizens to stand by the pro freedom and democracy demonstrators so that the regime  knows that freedom  is not only the demand of the elite but rather it is the public quest.


He strongly criticized the way the government passed the judiciary bill, saying that the aim was to keep the judiciary authority controlled by the overbearing executive, so that the governments ensure its hegemony over the judges. The chief justice also called for reducing the authority of the prosecution, laying stress on the importance of amending the criminal procedures law which secures the rights of the defendants.


The conference honored the detainees who have been recently released, some of them related accounts of agonies and tragic experiences, including stuffing them in the police truck which was not fit for human use, in addition to accounts of torture and starvation which made some prisoners resort to hunger strike in protest


Related Topics:


Presidents in perpetuity
Al-Ahram Weekly – Cairo,Egypt
’The battle is not over’
Al-Ahram Weekly – Cairo,Egypt
Back to square one
Al-Ahram Weekly – Cairo,Egypt
Not yet, thanks
Economist (subscription) – UK
This season’s footwear
Al-Ahram Weekly – Cairo,Egypt
Parliament Comes Down on Judiciary
Inter Press Service (subscription) – Rome,Italy
EGYPT: New law does little to liberalise judicial system, say Reuters AlertNet – London,England,UK
Egypt: Journalists’ Sentencing Draws Angry Reactions
AllAfrica.com – Washington,USA
Egypt parliament passes bill to strengthen judiciary
JURIST – USA
Attack on independent press in Egypt
Human Rights Education Associates (press release) – Cambridge,MA,USA
New Egyptian law on judiciary leaves reformers disappointed
Financial Times – London,England,UK
Egyptian Editor Gets Year in Jail for Insult
Voice of America – USA
Egypt justice law ’disappointing’
BBC News – UK
Jailed activists released in Egypt
Socialistworker.co.uk – London,UK
Egypt’s judges have struck a major blow for real democracy
Daily Star – Lebanon – Beirut,Lebanon
EGYPT: Journalists’ sentencing draws angry reactions
Reuters AlertNet – London,England,UK
Egyptian blogger is ordered released
AP via Yahoo! News Tue, 20 Jun 2006 11:07 AM PDT