- Workers
- August 25, 2010
- 4 minutes read
Military court postpones trial of protesting workers
The military court trial of eight workers from the Helwan Engineering Industries Company was adjourned to August 28 as crowds anticipated the verdicts
Activists from different political opposition groups and movements protested outside the courtroom. They chanted the national anthem and yelled slogans against the government, the Minister of State for Military Production Saied Metal and President Hosni Mubarak condemning the military court hearings
The workers were accused of abstaining from work and attacking the board’s chairman of the board and for participating in a sit-in to object to an accident which killed one colleague and injured others after a nitrogen cylinder went off inside the factory
The prosecution initially ordered them to be held in custody pending investigation where they were held on remand for four more days and later referred to military court
Wednesday’s hearing, had the court referring the worker who was accused of revealing military secrets to investigation into whether what he said was confidential or not
The media was prevented from entering the courtroom and knowing any details however news of the trial was leaked
According to the law military rulings can not be appealed
Muslim Brotherhood member and journalist Mohamed Abdul Qudus participated in the protest claiming that the workers did nothing but express their rage towards the death of their colleague and the unsafe conditions they have been surviving
