Tag Archives: military
Egyptian court sentences 529 Mursi supporters to death
Egyptian court sentences 529 Mursi supporters to death (Reuters) / 25 March 2014 Most of the defendants were detained and charged with carrying out attacks during clashes which erupted in the southern province of Minya after the forced dispersal of protest camps on August 14. An Egyptian court sentenced 529 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death for murder and other offences on Monday. Family members stood outside the courthouse screaming after the verdict — the biggest mass death sentence handed out in Egypt’s modern history, defence lawyers said. State television reported the sentences without comment. A government spokesman did not immediately respond to calls. Several government officials said they could not comment on judicial matters. Most of the defendants at Monday’s hearing were detained and charged with carrying out attacks during clashes which erupted in the southern province of Minya after the forced dispersal of two Muslim Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo on August 14. Militants have also stepped up assaults on the police and army since Mursi’s ouster, killing hundreds and carrying out high profile operations against senior interior ministry officials. “The court has decided to sentence to death 529 defendants, and 16 were acquitted,” defence lawyer Ahmed El Sharif said. The condemned men can appeal against the ruling. The charges against the group, on trial in Minya since Saturday, include violence, inciting murder, storming a police station, attacking persons and damaging public and private property. “This is the quickest case and the number sentenced to death is the largest in the history of the judiciary,” said lawyer Nabil Abdel Salam, who defends some Brotherhood leaders including Mursi. On Tuesday, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide, Mohamed Badie, and 682 others will face trial on charges of incitement to kill. Only 123 of the defendants were in court. The rest were either released, out on bail or on the run. The government has declared the Brotherhood a “terrorist” group. Mursi, Mubarak’s successor as president, and other top Brotherhood leaders are on trial on a range of charges and accuse the military of staging a coup and undermining democracy. The army says it was acting on behalf of the Egyptian people, who took to the streets in their millions to call for Mursi’s resignation. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Brotherhood allies seek truce
Brotherhood allies seek truce (AP) / 26 August 2013 Two of Egypt’s former militant groups are offering an initiative to halt the country’s political violence, in which supporters of the ousted Islamist president will stop street protests if the military-backed government stops its crackdown on them, the groups’ leaders said on Monday. An Egyptian woman waits for her breakfast on a street fast food restaurant in Suleiman Gohar market in Dokki district in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday. -AP The initiative led by Egypt’s Gamaa Islamiya and Islamic Jihad movements, which waged an insurgency in the 1990s, aims to bring dialogue between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood, from which toppled President Mohammed Mursi hails. Mursi was overthrown by the military on July 3 after millions took to the street demanding that he step down. Mursi’s allies had previously insisted that he be restored to power as starting point for any talks, but Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed Abu Samra told The Associated Press that negotiations had no “red lines.” The groups do not speak for the Brotherhood, but the initiative is a new sign of flexibility from the pro-Mursi alliance of mostly Islamist groups. It comes as the Islamists’ protest campaign wanes and numbers at their formerly massive rallies dwindle. Hundreds of Brotherhood leaders and organisers have been arrested in the crackdown. Egypt’s worst bout of violence in its 2 ½ years of turmoil was set off when security forces backed by snipers and armoured vehicles moved in to break up two sprawling pro-Mursi protest camps on August 14. More than 1,000 people were killed in the raids and other violence over the next several days, mostly Mursi supporters. “We are paving the way for talks,” Abu Samra said over the phone. “We can’t hold talks while we are at the points of swords in the midst of killings and crackdowns.” He said the groups were “extending their hands” to avoid a bloodier confrontation with the military. He said that the Islamists will stop demonstrations so long as the military halts its crackdown and stops defaming the Brotherhood in mosques and in the media. Asked if Islamist groups would accept talks without demanding Mursi’s reinstatement, he said, “Blood is more valuable than the seat of power.” Top Muslim Brotherhood negotiator Amr Darrag said that the group is open for talks but after “confidence-building measures.” However, he added, “the other side didn’t show a single gesture or any sign that it is ready for dialogue. It only talks about it but no action.” It was not immediately possible to reach the interim president’s political advisers for comment. Egypt’s Interim Prime Minister Hazem El Beblawi had earlier told reporters that security measures will not be enough on their own and that Egypt “must go down the political path” to work out a democratic transition through reconciliation. However, he ruled out talks with anyone who had committed acts of violence. Continue reading
Egypt’s Mubarak leaves jail for house arrest
Egypt’s Mubarak leaves jail for house arrest (AFP) / 23 August 2013 Egypt’s toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak was transferred from prison to house arrest at a military hospital on Thursday, in a move overshadowed by a blistering crackdown against his Islamist successors. The former strongman, forced to quit in early 2011, was flown by medical helicopter to a military hospital, where he will remain under house arrest as he stands trial on corruption and murder charges. His ouster in 2011 was a pivotal moment in regional democratic upheavals that in Egypt led to an Islamist government, which lasted a year before a popularly backed military coup last month. In other circumstances, the 85-year-old’s removal from prison might have caused shockwaves. But with Egypt mired in a deadly conflict between the military-installed government and Islamists, Mubarak’s transfer took place amid little fanfare or protest. He was ordered released after his lawyer argued Mubarak’s stay in prison had exceeded the maximum pre-verdict detention, and Mubarak made financial amends for one of his charges. He still faces trial for corruption and his role in the deaths of protesters during the uprising that toppled him, with his next hearing on Sunday. Prime minister Hazem Al Beblawi, empowered with the authority to order arrests under the current state of emergency, ordered Mubarak to be placed under house arrest after release from jail. Mubarak chose to be held at the military hospital, the official MENA news agency reported. The decision to grant Mubarak pre-trial release added a volatile new element to the political turmoil that has gripped Egypt since the army ousted president Mohammed Mursi on July 3 following massive protests against him. More than 1,000 people have been killed in the past week in violence following the forcible break-up of two pro-Mursi camps in the capital. Authorities have arrested dozens of members of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood, including its supreme guide Mohamed Badie — the first time the group’s chief has been arrested since 1981. Mursi himself is being held at a secret location and faces charges related to his 2011 escape from prison and inciting the death and torture of protesters. The juxtaposition between the fates of the two ousted presidents, Mubarak and Mursi, is notable, analyst Hisham Kassem said. Mubarak “committed numerous crimes… against the country, but managed to hide the evidence, particularly as all the state’s institutions were working for him at the time he was overthrown.” “The opposite is true for Mursi, who was thrown in prison while all the state’s apparatus were against him.” Arrests of Brotherhood leaders continued, with authorities detaining Ahmed Aref, a spokesman for the group, in Cairo. On Thursday, Human Rights Watch condemned the government for failing to protect churches, but also the Brotherhood for failing to halt incitement against Christians. Violence has also targeted police and soldiers, including two who were killed in a drive-by shooting near the Suez Canal town of Ismailia on Thursday. The unrest has prompted international criticism, and EU foreign ministers agreed at an emergency meeting on Wednesday to suspend the sale of arms and security equipment to Cairo in response to the mounting violence. They issued a statement calling recent security operations “disproportionate”, while also condemning “acts of terrorism” in the Sinai and the church attacks. But they expressed concern over the economic situation and said “assistance in the socio-economic sector and to civil society will continue”. The United States has also criticised the violence, as well as Badie’s arrest, and announced the cancellation of joint military exercises. But it has stopped short of halting its $1.3 billion annual defence aid package to Egypt, and denied reports it was withholding aid. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which backs the army-installed interim government, has said it would step in with other Arab nations to fill any funding gap if Washington halts aid. Meanwhile, a Hamas official said Egypt is set to reopen the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip daily from Saturday after closing it in the wake of last week’s bloodshed. Continue reading
