Trial adjourned

ON SATURDAY, Cairo's Criminal Court delayed -- until 25 January -- the retrial of 50 men convicted last year by a state security court of habitual debauchery. Most of the defendants were arrested in May 2001 aboard the Queen Boat nightclub, which is moored along the banks of the Nile. Their first state security court trial, which took place last November, ended with 23 of the defendants being sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to two years, with 29 others acquitted. In May, President Hosni Mubarak, who is empowered to cancel judgments and grant amnesties in verdicts passed by state security courts, ordered the men to be retried because the case did not fall under the jurisdiction of state security courts. At the same time, he upheld the jail terms received by the two key defendants, Sherif Farahat and Mahmoud Allam, who were sentenced to five and three years, respectively, for "deriding Islam". Farahat was also accused of debauchery. On Saturday, defence lawyers asked the court to summon three police officers -- who took part in the arrests more than a year ago -- for cross-examination.

Liberation's trial continues

THE TRIAL of 23 Egyptians and three Britons accused of attempting to overthrow the government and revive the activities of the banned group Hizbul Tahrir, or Liberation Party, resumed at a Cairo State Security Court on Saturday. When the trial began in October, the court had criticised the prosecutors for presenting irrelevant documents, adjourning the case until December. This week's sessions were dedicated to a display of the prosecutor's evidence, as well as the court's compliance with some of the defence's requests. Defence lawyers had argued that the men's confessions were obtained under duress. A medical report concerning three of the accused was heard by the court on Saturday; the report was unable to discern the cause of prior injuries they had suffered, and the court is still waiting for the rest of the medical reports. On Sunday, the court ordered that three books belonging to one of the British defendants be examined for material that may contradict Islamic Shari'a [law]. A committee of scholars from Al-Azhar University's Faculty of Islamic Jurisprudence is expected to review the books and report back to court.

The defendants in the case had all pleaded innocent, insisting they were against any use of violence for political ends. In a previous interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, they said the government wants to convict them based solely on their ideologies.

Consumers everywhere

THE CENTRAL Society for Consumer Protection this week held a day- long conference entitled, "The Role of NGOs in Consumer Protection", which was attended by some 200 people, most of them from non- governmental organisations (NGOs) and ministries who work in the field of consumer protection, Willa Thayer reports.

Consumer protection is a matter that concerns all Egyptians, Mostapha Tolba, society president, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "People need to realise that every individual is a consumer; there is a feeling that the consumers are sitting here, and everybody else is sitting over there, producing or offering a service, and we are protecting this group from that group. The culture of everyone being a consumer is not there."

Towards fostering such a culture, the conference brought together representatives from the ministries of supply and internal trade, industry, the environment, health, and local government to discuss, among other issues, enhancing public awareness of consumer rights and strengthening cooperation between state entities and NGOs in the area of consumer protection.

Conference participants also discussed the legal framework for consumer protection -- a matter of particular interest these days in light of the announcement earlier this year that parliament would review a law in this respect during its 2002-2003 session.

Tolba said that the risk of harm from goods and services is higher for some Egyptians than others. "The ones who really need protection are the poor, because the rich have the option to buy the best; the poor are forced to get the least expensive goods, and normally the least expensive ones are where there are problems of low quality."

He emphasised that a solution to this problem will go beyond merely warning people against harmful goods and services. "If I say 'don't touch this, this is bad', I have to give them alternatives. The idea of 'don't touch' alone is irrelevant."

The poor are not the only ones at risk, however. Tolba contested what he characterised as the notion that consumer protection is about "protecting the consumer from the outsider". It is also necessary, he said, "to protect the consumer from his mad bad habits; there is the tremendous speed with which we are buying cars and mobile telephones; the expenses [for these] are beyond imagination: 50 per cent of the income of some families is spent on cars and mobiles."

From pilot to co-pilot

AN EGYPTAIR pilot has lost his licence as punishment for violating safety instructions and threatening the lives of passengers and crew, reports Amira Ibrahim. After being suspended for six months, Ali Murad was found guilty of taking off in bad weather on a Cairo to Luxor flight during which the plane had trouble landing. The incident took place a week after the 7 May crash of an EgyptAir Boeing 737 in Tunisia.

Murad had initially refused to be questioned by an investigation committee; he later agreed, and was accused of not waiting to receive a weather report or heeding his co-pilot's suggestion not to take off.

According to the Civil Aviation Ministry's disciplinary committee, Murad will face two years of probation, during which he will only be a co-pilot. "He will have to go through the regular exams again in order to regain his licence as a pilot," said Magdeddin Rifa'at, the Aviation Ministry's secretary-general.

Murad told Al-Ahram Weekly that he had not received his salary and other moneys due to him for the past seven months -- ever since his suspension in May. He said the procedures taken against him by the company were illegal, and that he was "willing to take his case to court".

According to Murad, he is still paying the price for a previous incident -- which took place in September 2000 -- when he refused to allow Israeli soldiers in Gaza to inspect the EgyptAir plane he was piloting. The company subsequently suspended him for seven months, but a disciplinary court later absolved him from any wrongdoing.

According to an EgyptAir statement, however, Murad has received LE292,000 since the Gaza incident, contrary to his claims that he has been mistreated by the company. "He has received his salary for the past seven months," the statement said, "but does not deserve a flight bonus since he did not pilot any flights."

Compiled by Jailan Halawi