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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 June - 5 July 2000 Issue No. 488 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 June - 5 July 2000 Issue No. 488
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Playing hard ball with the Brotherhood
By Khaled DawoudWhen a lawyer from the defence team of 20 suspected Muslim Brotherhood figures asked on Monday to further postpone hearings pending the submission of more documents to the court, defendants in the dock were the first to object. "No, we want this to be the last session," Mukhtar Nouh, former treasurer of the Bar Association and one of the key defendants, told the judge. "Please set a date for the sentences today," he pleaded.
Sixteen of the 20 defendants were arrested last October while taking part in an allegedly secret Muslim Brotherhood meeting in Cairo's southern suburb of Maadi. The four other defendants were arrested at their homes. Two months later, on 25 December, all twenty men were put on a military trial for plotting to revive the outlawed organisation's activities and gain control over professional syndicates.
The move was in line with the government's refusal in recent years to distinguish between the relatively moderate Brotherhood and militants suspected of involvement in anti-government violence. But unlike all military trials that have taken place since late 1992, the hearings for the latest Brotherhood trial dragged on for seven months before the tribunal finally set a 30 July date for handing down the verdicts on Monday.
The government has relied on the speedy procedures and harsh sentences of military courts to act as a deterrent against militant attacks. Military tribunals trying militants involved in armed attacks have handed down sentences in four to six weeks -- even in cases when the number of defendants exceeded 100. According to human rights groups, more than 100 defendants, all militants, have been sentenced to death by military courts.
With militant attacks at their peak in early 1995, the Brotherhood refused to condemn the violence, instead blaming the government's allegedly heavy-handed policies for deteriorating national security. The government decided that its policy of tacitly tolerating the Brotherhood in hopes of containing more militant groups was not working and launched a major crackdown against the group. More than 100 Brotherhood members were put on three separate military trials, with dozens receiving jail terms ranging between three and five years.
Since 1995, the government has been carrying out periodic round-ups of suspected Brotherhood members, but they were usually released following a short period of detention. But this latest Brotherhood trial has been unusual in many respects. A few sessions into the opening of the trial, a police officer who took part in the Maadi raid told the court that one of the defendants had helped him in taping and filming discussions. The lawyers said that if this was the case, the police mole should not be among the defendants. But the prosecutor backed the police officer's refusal to reveal the name of the mysterious collaborator. Lawyers then spent weeks arguing that the audio and video tapes were faked and unclear, and should not be considered as evidence.
Perhaps more significantly, the arrest of Nouh and his colleagues in October came shortly after a court ruling ordering elections at the Bar Association -- known to be a Brotherhood stronghold. Following its 1995 crackdown, the government has also acted to end the presence of the Brotherhood in professional syndicates by capitalising on internal divisions or alleged financial irregularities to place the unions under court supervision and delay elections for years. The implicit message was that the group would not be allowed under any circumstances to stage a comeback.
Meanwhile, Ragai Atiya, the government's unofficial candidate for the post of Bar Association chairman in Saturday's scheduled elections, was the lawyer who led the Brotherhood's large and well-organised defence team.
Some observers claim that the delay in handing down the sentences was meant to side-step the Bar Association's elections altogether, in order not to fuel tension at the syndicate or provide the Brotherhood with reason for additional popularity.
At the same time, the government has continued its round-ups of suspected junior Brotherhood members. On Tuesday, police announced the arrest of three Brotherhood members in Fayoum, southwest of Cairo. Observers believe that the arrests soared in recent weeks following suspicions that the Brotherhood was involved in demonstrations that broke out at Al-Azhar University in May protesting the Ministry of Culture's decision to reprint the controversial novel A Banquet for Seaweed, by Syrian writer Haydar Haydar.
Relates stories:
A place for the Brotherhood - 11 - 17 May 2000
Surprises galore in Brothers trial - 2 - 8 March 2000
Military courts to try Brothers - 4 - 10 November 1999
Tightening the net -28 Oct. - 3 Nov. 1999
Message to the Brotherhood - 21 - 27 October 1999For profile of the Muslim Brotherhood see:
Politics in God's name
