Syndicate siege

An undisclosed number of pro-reform activists were arrested last week as they attempted to stage a demonstration in support of two judges facing a disciplinary tribunal, reports Salonaz Sami

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Last Thursday hundreds of anti-riot police surrounded pro-reform protesters from the banned Muslim Brotherhood, the Journalists for Change Movement, Kifaya and other reform groups, preventing what would have been one of the largest demonstrations yet seen in support of the campaign for greater independence.

Hundreds of pro-reform activists attempted to make their way to the headquarters of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) where judges Mahmoud Mekki and Hisham Bastawisi were facing a disciplinary tribunal only to find all the streets blocked by a massive presence of security personnel.

Mekki and Bastawisi, deputy chairmen of the Court of Cassation, have been accused of damaging the image of the judiciary and of violating professional codes by speaking to the media on political issues and of accusing colleagues of complicity in the vote rigging that marred last year's elections. The two judges are said to have leaked a list including the initials of judges suspected of involvement in electoral malpractice.

Following the disciplinary hearing, anti-riot police moved to prevent judges from attending an emergency general assembly at the Cairo Judges' Club to discuss Mekki and Bastawisi's situation.

"They started beating everyone, including the judges," Rasha Azzab, a Kifaya member, told Al-Ahram Weekly.

"Judges of Egypt, the hopes of Egyptian people are pinned on you, don't let us down," read one banner in a protester's hand.

Gamal Fahmi, a member of the Press Syndicate's council, said that many protesters were effectively besieged inside the lawyers' and press syndicates.

"They would not allow anyone in or out," Fahmi said. "It was as if we were at war and under a curfew." Pedestrians were prevented from along the pavements.

"Hundreds of security forces surrounded the Press Syndicate building. As soon as we started to move down the steps towards the street their numbers doubles and we were told we could go nowhere," Hussein Metwalli, a member of Journalists for Change, told the Weekly. "We tried to convince them to let us out but they refused."

"But that didn't stop us," said Azzab.

When security personnel began to tear down a large Egyptian flag from the wall of the Press Syndicate tempers flared, said Azzab, "and we decided to move to the street come what may."

It was then that the arrests started.

"The security forces arrested everyone they could lay their hands on," said Manal Youssef, a Kifaya member. Well-known figures including Kamal Khalil, Ibrahim Al-Sahari, Mohamed Abdel-Quddos and Sahar Gad were among the detainees.

"What happened was a disgrace. The streets around the Press Syndicate were filled with anti- riot police and officers in civilian clothes who forbade anyone from entering the street," said lawyer Wael Hussein. "Thousands of anti-riot police are deployed to beat and arrest innocent people instead of protecting them from terrorist attacks."

Meanwhile, on Saturday morning Ihab El-Kholi and Amir Salem, both lawyers and members of Al-Ghad Party, were arrested at their homes then freed the next day.

There are no accurate figures on the numbers detained in connection to the protests.