28 June - 4 July 2001
Issue No.540
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 28 June - 4 July 2001 Issue No.540 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Adding insult to injury
The opening of court hearings for the case against Mamdouh Mahran, chief editor of Al-Nabaa, was as stormy as expected. Shaden Shehab watched the proceedings
Security forces, both uniformed and plainclothes, were on alert from the early hours of Sunday inside and outside the Abdin court complex in central Cairo. A State Security Misdemeanours Court was to begin hearing a case brought by the Supreme Press Council against Mamdouh Mahran, chief editor of the independent weekly Al-Nabaa and its sister publication, the daily Akher Khabar. Mahran sent shock waves throughout the nation, particularly the Coptic community, by publishing articles and photographs on 17 and 18 June that purported to show a defrocked monk engaging in sexual activity with a woman inside Al-Muharraq monastery near the southern city of Assiut.
Tight security outside the courthouse (l), while Mahran's lawyers and Coptic Church representatives engage in a shouting match inside
photos: Abdel-Wahab El-Seheiti
Outside the court complex, at least five armoured vehicles, packed with Central Security Forces personnel, were positioned. Plainclothes police officers watched over the streets in anticipation of possible demonstrations. Inside the complex were dozens of Central Security Forces and plainclothes officers who allowed only lawyers and a select group of press and media people to pass through the electronic gate leading to the courtroom. "We do not want things to get out of hand today," offered one officer.
Mahran did not show up at the trial; his lawyers explained that the law did not require his presence. This may have been for the best because his appearance may have further provoked lawyers representing the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Before the hearings began, nine lawyers for Mahran and five Church lawyers, representing the civil claimants, spoke to media representatives. Then some of the defendant's lawyers circulated a statement typed on Al-Nabaa stationery that further angered Church representatives.
The statement began by offering an explanation of why the defence team agreed to defend Mahran. "It is a case of national concern the facts of which were distorted to claim that the newspaper's intention was to defame the sanctity of sacred places," the statement said. It argued that the newspaper's real intention was to draw attention to the misbehaviour of an individual posing as a priest in clerical garb. "Exceeding all deviant behaviour, not only did he commit acts of indecency, but did so inside holy places. What was published was merely a clarification of the truth and an attempt to put the record straight," the statement claimed. The Coptic Church adamantly denies that the monastery was defiled.
"Take your seats; the trial will begin," ordered a plainclothes police officer. The majority of those in attendance complied but the wooden benches were insufficient to accommodate all those assembled. Judge Osama Mohamed Ali then entered the courtroom and everyone stood up -- and remained standing. Some people stood on benches to get a better view of the podium, while others crammed the centre aisle of the courtroom. Television crews positioned microphones in front of the judge, to which he did not object.
Judge Ali had just asked the lawyers to identify themselves when procedures were disrupted.
"We would like to affirm that the journalist [Mahran] and his lawyers insist on insulting Copts by means of a statement they just distributed," shouted Ramsis El-Naggar, a Church representative. Pandemonium broke out.
"We have complete respect for our Coptic brothers," retorted Mursi El-Sheikh, one of the defendant's lawyers. El- Naggar continued: "This statement insists that he [the defrocked monk] committed his sins inside the monastery."
"Can we please calm down," said a patient judge.
"We will not tolerate this," yelled Naguib Gabriel, another Church lawyer.
"Please calm down; will the defence state their demands," Judge Ali said, in an attempt to restore order.
"The defence needs an official copy of the minutes of the prosecutor's interrogation [of Mahran]. All the doors of the nation's organisations were closed in our faces. We did not have a chance to look at the minutes. The court is our only recourse," said El-Sheikh.
"Which of the nation's organisations?" asked lawyer Naguib Gabriel.
Ignoring the question, El-Sheikh said: "The intention [of the publication] is to clear the Church from any wrongdoing."
"We are not here today to hear the defence's presentation," Judge Ali said.
"There is an insistence on defaming Copts. This is war," yelled an angry El-Naggar.
"I will not tolerate this any longer," Judge Ali said and left the courtroom, while the shouting match continued.
"The judge ordered that if this behaviour continues, he will conduct hearings behind closed doors," warned a plainclothes police officer.
His statement was ignored and the raucous continued.
"I want quiet," screamed the police officer. Everyone complied as dozens of Central Security Forces streamed into the courtroom and positioned themselves in the centre aisle and near the podium. When a degree of order was restored, the judge returned to the courtroom.
Ali asked the chief of state security prosecution, Mohamed El-Faisal, to read out the accusations against Mahran in the two cases of Al-Nabaa and Akher Khabar.
El-Faisal announced that Mahran was charged with undermining public order and social peace and spreading sensationalist disinformation. Some examples he cited from headlines in the two newspapers were: "Al-Muharraq monastery turns into a whorehouse," and "The miracle monk has sex with 5,000 women." The two publications, as El-Faisal announced, are also charged with defaming the Church and harming national unity; inciting hatred and contempt for Christianity; publishing pornographic text and pictures that offend public morality; and attempting to influence the judiciary.
If convicted of all charges, Mahran faces 12 years in jail.
On 19 June, Mahran was released on LE10,000 bail after he was questioned by prosecutors. He was not held in custody because he was interrogated on the basis of a 1996 press law which forbids the arrest of journalists under investigation, stating that they may be imprisoned only on a court order. State security cases cannot be appealed, but the defendant can file a clemency plea with the military governor -- President Hosni Mubarak.
For their part, Mahran's defence team requested that they be granted time to study the case file and be provided with an official copy of the minutes of the interrogation of the defrocked monk, Adel Saadallah Gabriel, who was known before his dismissal in 1996 as Barsoum El-Muharraqi. They also demanded that the investigation into Adel Saadallah Gabriel's actions and the videotape that is purported to contain a record of these actions be appended to the case evidence.
El-Naggar protested saying that the court was concerned only with Mahran's actions -- not those allegedly committed by the former priest. The Church's lawyers also demanded to study the case files.
One of the Church's lawyers said that the misdemeanours court has no jurisdiction to hear the case because the offences which Mahran is accused of are felonies and demanded that the case be referred to the State Security Criminal Court.
They also demanded that the judge visit Al-Muharraq monastery to ascertain the impossibility of committing the actions there that the publications alleged Adel Saadallah Gabriel had committed.
Although Mahran's action shocked many people, his lawyers affirmed "his good intentions and performance of his duty as an honest journalist."
"We have to draw a distinction between the yellow press and a bold press. The latter attempts to provide exclusive information and this cannot be done if certain subjects cannot be tackled," El-Sheikh told Al-Ahram Weekly.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page