Government Denies Former US Attorney General Access to MB Trial

Government Denies Former US Attorney General Access to MB Trial

Egyptian security authorities in the military region of Huckstepp prevented the former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark from entering the military tribunal to monitor the twenty sixth session trying 40 Muslim Brotherhood (MB) leaders..
 
“Unfortunately Egyptian authorities are still preventing international observers from monitoring the military trial against Muslim Brotherhood leaders. They deprive the accused of a fair and open trial in front of a civil court” Clark says after preventing him from monitoring the 26th session in the seventh military trial in the history of the Muslim Brotherhood, the world”s biggest moderate Islamic group.
 
The former US Attorney General noted that he traveled to six other countries to monitor political trials there but he wasn”t prevented. ” I traveled to Australia, South Africa, the Philippines, Thailand and Soviet Union and I wasn”t denied access by any security bodies in these countries”, said the former US Attorney General.
 
“They do not know that governments that seek to hide what happens inside, and prevent observers from doing their duty, are actually dealing a death blow to justice and independence of the court”, said the former US attorney General expressing his shock after he was denied access to the courthouse.
 
Clark added that:” being behind closed doors means that this military tribunal doesn”t only violate rights of these accused, but it also violates human rights because every human being has the right to stand trial in front of a fair judge and in a public court”.
 
“It is so painful to see this happening in an Arab country as Egypt , as if its spiritual tongue says: I feel ashamed inside, therefore I do not want you to know this”.
 
Saying that the world sees Egypt as a military dictatorship which is ruled by one junta after another, Clark added that Egypt is a signatory on the Human Rights Charter and its section related to civil and political rights that one of its articles state that the accused has the right to stand trial before a civil, fair, legal, independent and neutral court.
 
This article has been violated by Egypt after president Hosni Mubarak referred 40 Muslim Brotherhood leaders in case no. 2 of the year 2007 to the military tribunal.
 
It is worth mentioning that the state security in the Cairo Airport held Clark on Friday evening for three hours inside the airport without stating reasons for this measure. The former US Attorney General said commenting on this, that they want to harass him but he will continue to do what he sees as appropriate.
 
Sources familiar with the military tribunal declared that Ramsey Clark will announce something surprising that will affect the course of the case on Monday at noon in his press conference held in the Egyptian bar association.