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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Books Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Barred from the bar
By Mona El-NahhasA ruling by the Court of Cassation, ending the three-year-old sequestration imposed on the Bar Association, has been carried out -- with the three custodians abandoning their positions and turning over the union to an interim judicial committee. In accordance with the ruling, the committee will take charge of the syndicate's affairs until elections for a new council are organised. Under law 100 for the year 1993 governing professional syndicates, the newly-appointed committee has up to six months to prepare for elections.
Following the appointment of the judicial committee, former custodian Hassan El-Mahdi filed a complaint with the Attorney General against his colleague Reda Ghatwari, accusing him of misusing as much as LE18 million. In view of the seriousness of the charge, the judicial committee, once it took control of the syndicate, dismissed the union's financial manager.
Last week Minister of Justice Farouk Seif El-Nasr announced the establishment of 20 judicial sub-committees which will take charge of the Bar Association's branches in the various governorates.
But lawyers do not believe that their battle has ended. "It's just the beginning," said Nasserist lawyer Sameh Ashour. "The battle will only end once elections are held and the syndicate is completely liberated," added Ashour, a candidate for the post of syndicate chairman.
Some lawyers, however, insisted that there were more pressing issues than the timing of elections. "The most important thing is whether elections will be free and fair," said Nasser Amin, head of the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Lawyers Profession. "It seems that the government will exclude its opponents from contesting the coming elections," Amin said, referring to the recent arrest of 20 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
On 1 November, President Hosni Mubarak issued a republican decree referring those arrested to military courts. The 20 Brotherhood members are leading activists in the professional syndicates. Moukhtar Nouh, former treasurer of the Bar Association's Islamist-controlled council, which was dissolved in 1996 after it was accused of committing flagrant financial irregularities, and Khaled Badawi, assistant treasurer of the dissolved council, were among those arrested.
The 20 members were rounded up last month, during a meeting at the Maadi headquarters of the Engineering Syndicate. Initially remanded in custody for 15 days, this was later prolonged. On 1 November they were referred to the military prosecution -- a move which analysts described as a warning to the Brotherhood to keep out of future syndicate elections. Military prosecutors ordered that they be held in custody for another 15 days.
The majority of lawyers have expressed their disapproval of the government's move. Lawyer Nabil El-Hilali has demanded that the government stop referring civil cases to military courts, drawing attention to several lawsuits filed with the Constitutional Court contesting the constitutionality of the articles that allow the president to refer civil cases to military courts.
Leading lawyer Ragai Atteya, who was keen on attending the interrogation of the 20 detainees, insisted the government must change its policy and show some respect for the supremacy of law. Many expect Atteya's support for Nouh and his colleagues will result in the government withdrawing its support for his candidacy in the upcoming elections.
