Diana el Tahawy
by Diana el Tahawy
As the justice system in Egypt grows more selective, the judiciary appears more interested in setting political scores and punishing dissent than establishing justice.
It is in this frustrating context that the verdict in the case of Yara Sallam, of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), approaches. She has already spent more than 100 days in prison awaiting trial on charges of breaching the unconstitutional protest law which has been used to lock up countless activists, dissidents and others unfortunate enough to be swept up in mass arrests since its passing last year.
Sallam’s predicament started on June 21, when men in plain clothes handed her over to the police while she was buying water at a kiosk near a demonstration dispersed earlier by security forces. Within days, Sallam found herself in the dock facing baseless and trumped-up charges of “displaying force” and vandalism, in addition to participating in an unauthorised protest. The fact that not a single shred of evidence exists linking Sallam to any violence has not stopped the prosecution from indicting her, or the judge from rejecting requests to end her unjustifiable pretrial detention.
When Sallam and 22 of her codefendants first appeared in court on June 29, her family and friends were hopeful. After all, there was no reason to keep the defendants behind bars as none of the legal justifications for pretrial detention had been met. The 23 defendants posed no danger to society. There was no reasonable risk that, at liberty, they would tamper with the evidence or intimidate prosecution witnesses – who happen to be policemen. Shattering hopes, the judge adjourned proceedings to September 13 while continuing the detention of the defendants. Again and again, the trial was adjourned and Sallam’s imprisonment was renewed. The judge eventually announced that a verdict would be issued on October 26.
Making any prediction of trial outcomes based on legal standards is no longer possible. Hundreds of people were recently convicted of killing a single police officer without any evidence of individual criminal responsibility or a proper chance to plead their innocence.
Nowadays, courts rely on police and intelligence reports and witness testimony by security personnel to establish defendants’ guilt in politically motivated cases. Other “incriminating” evidence against journalists and activists recently presented in court has included all sorts of bizarre things.
Meanwhile, security agents are allowed almost absolute immunity. Just this month, several protesters who were arrested during the October 6, 2013 demonstrations against Mohamed Mursi’s ousting were found guilty of involvement in the murder of fellow protesters – while not a single police officer has been charged over the unlawful killings of at least 49 people in Cairo alone that day.
With Sallam’s verdict approaching, one tries to remain hopeful against the odds. Last month, at the United Nations general assembly, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi renewed his promise of “a new Egypt, a state that respects rights and freedoms … enforces the rule of law, guarantees freedom of opinion for all”. Such promises ring hollow as long as Sallam and thousands of others find themselves arbitrarily locked up, at the mercy of a judiciary that routinely denies victims the protection of the law, while allowing perpetrators to evade justice.
THE GUARDIAN
by Diana el Tahawy
As the justice system in Egypt grows more selective, the judiciary appears more interested in setting political scores and punishing dissent than establishing justice.
It is in this frustrating context that the verdict in the case of Yara Sallam, of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), approaches. She has already spent more than 100 days in prison awaiting trial on charges of breaching the unconstitutional protest law which has been used to lock up countless activists, dissidents and others unfortunate enough to be swept up in mass arrests since its passing last year.
Sallam’s predicament started on June 21, when men in plain clothes handed her over to the police while she was buying water at a kiosk near a demonstration dispersed earlier by security forces. Within days, Sallam found herself in the dock facing baseless and trumped-up charges of “displaying force” and vandalism, in addition to participating in an unauthorised protest. The fact that not a single shred of evidence exists linking Sallam to any violence has not stopped the prosecution from indicting her, or the judge from rejecting requests to end her unjustifiable pretrial detention.
When Sallam and 22 of her codefendants first appeared in court on June 29, her family and friends were hopeful. After all, there was no reason to keep the defendants behind bars as none of the legal justifications for pretrial detention had been met. The 23 defendants posed no danger to society. There was no reasonable risk that, at liberty, they would tamper with the evidence or intimidate prosecution witnesses – who happen to be policemen. Shattering hopes, the judge adjourned proceedings to September 13 while continuing the detention of the defendants. Again and again, the trial was adjourned and Sallam’s imprisonment was renewed. The judge eventually announced that a verdict would be issued on October 26.
Making any prediction of trial outcomes based on legal standards is no longer possible. Hundreds of people were recently convicted of killing a single police officer without any evidence of individual criminal responsibility or a proper chance to plead their innocence.
Nowadays, courts rely on police and intelligence reports and witness testimony by security personnel to establish defendants’ guilt in politically motivated cases. Other “incriminating” evidence against journalists and activists recently presented in court has included all sorts of bizarre things.
Meanwhile, security agents are allowed almost absolute immunity. Just this month, several protesters who were arrested during the October 6, 2013 demonstrations against Mohamed Mursi’s ousting were found guilty of involvement in the murder of fellow protesters – while not a single police officer has been charged over the unlawful killings of at least 49 people in Cairo alone that day.
With Sallam’s verdict approaching, one tries to remain hopeful against the odds. Last month, at the United Nations general assembly, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi renewed his promise of “a new Egypt, a state that respects rights and freedoms … enforces the rule of law, guarantees freedom of opinion for all”. Such promises ring hollow as long as Sallam and thousands of others find themselves arbitrarily locked up, at the mercy of a judiciary that routinely denies victims the protection of the law, while allowing perpetrators to evade justice.
THE GUARDIAN
