An Egyptian court rejected Wednesday a lawsuit calling for an entry ban into Egypt for members of Hamas. The Commissioner Authority of the State Council rejected the lawsuit filed by lawyer Samir Sabry saying the lawyer did not elaborate on his grounds for demanding the ban. “The civil plaintiff did not specify the factors required to ban the exit from or entry into the country, although the court asked him to specify names of the persons he wants to prevent from entering or leaving,” the court said in its ruling. [Cairo Post, 5/7/2015]
POLITICS
Former Deputy Prime Minister says political parties divided and weak
Speaking to Al-Masry Al-Youm, former deputy prime minister and professor of constitutional law Hossam Eissa described all political parties as “weak.” The problem lies in the disintegration of parties, he said. “If the parties were active on the ground instead of criticizing the election laws, it would be much better,” he stated, adding that no political party is likely to win the majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections, as independent candidates will dominate the scene. [Egypt Independent, 5/7/2015]
Also of Interest
- Two leading Conference Party members resign | Egypt Independent
COURTS
Court postpones decision on Mubarak’s retrial for killing protesters to June 4
Egypt’s Court of Cassation has said Thursday it would rule 4 June on an appeal filed by the general prosecution against dropping charges against former president Hosni Mubarak over his alleged role in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising. In November, a criminal court dropped charges against 86-year-old Mubarak over his complicity in the murder of protesters during the January 2011 uprising. The court was scheduled to rule on the challenge on April 2, but postponed its decision to “technically prepare the courtroom” to play a video of the November sentence, the head of the court had said. Mubarak’s lawyer, Farid al-Deeb, called on the court on Thursday not to accept the appeal neither procedurally or substantively. Deeb argued that the appeal lacks “logical legal grounds.” He submitted a memorandum responding to the prosecution’s appeal arguments. [Ahram Online, Aswat Masriya, 5/7/2015]
Court overturns Islamist politician Abu Ismail’s sentence for accusations of insulting police officer
A Giza court acquitted Islamist politician Hazem Salah Abu Ismail of charges of insulting the police force, accepting Abu Ismail’s challenge against a one year verdict handed to him. In September, Abu Ismail was sentenced in absentia to a year’s hard labour for insulting a police officer. The Salafist preacher and former presidential candidate appealed against the court ruling. The court had accused Abu Ismail of insulting a police officer in a video released online on December 30, 2012. The defendant is heard insulting the police and then minister of interior Ahmed Gamal al-Deen, according to the court. Abu Ismail is currently serving a seven year sentence, after being convicted on charges of for forgoing the documents. Last month, the Court of Cassation rejected the appeal of the famous lawyer and Salafist preacher against the court ruling. [Ahram Online, Aswat Masriya, 5/6/2015]
Egypt’s top prosecutor launches investigation into reports of student’s beating by teacher
Egypt’s top prosecutor ordered an investigation on Wednesday to look into a circulating video that purports to show a teacher in a school assaulting a student in a severe beating. Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat ordered that prosecutors investigate the incident to find out the details surrounding it and take the necessary legal procedures, according to a statement. The incident is believed to have taken place during class in a school in Maadi, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Cairo. [Aswat Masriya, 5/6/2015]
Also of Interest
- TV host Ahmed Moussa sentenced to three months for insulting top auditor | Ahram Online
- Lawyers prohibited from visiting detained minors: NGO | DNE
- Suez military court sentences fifteen to life in prison for murder chargers | Aswat Masriya
ECONOMY
Egypt to issue 1-year T-bill worth $1.250 billion
Egypt will issue a 1-year treasury bill worth $1.250 billion dollars, a central bank statement said on Thursday. The statement said the finance ministry was the issuer and the bookkeeper was the central bank. The auction deadline is May 11, 2015 and the issue date is May 12. Eligible subscribers include local banks and foreign financial institutions, the statement said. [Reuters, 5/7/2015]
Also of Interest
- Egypt central bank says Thursday forex auction for sale of $300 million | Reuters
- Egypt’s central bank reduces foreign exchange auction days to three per week | Aswat Masriya
- Market twists and turns on capital gains tax news | Mada Masr
- Egypt’s private sector continues to decline in April | Mada Masr
SOCIETY & MEDIA
Activists launch campaign to release ‘Raba’a Operations Room’ journalists
A campaign calling for the release of journalists convicted in the “Raba’a Operations Room” case was launched on World Press Freedom Day Sunday by a group of human rights activists. Also joining in the campaign alongside the activists were the families and friends of the convicted journalists. The campaign aims at mobilizing international public opinion, including international human rights organizations and foreign governments, to exert pressure on the Egyptian government to release the journalists convicted in the “Raba’a Operations Room” case. Meanwhile, independent observatory Journalists against Torture (JATO) released a statement on Tuesday saying that there have been forty-eight cases of violations against journalists in April alone. At least twenty-four cases were documented by JATO, in which journalists were prevented from covering events. Another ten were verbally insulted and threatened, nine were physically assaulted and some were injured. A further four were arrested or questioned. [DNE, 5/6/2015]
Tahya Misr Fund’s head claims NGOs aim to ‘bring down state organizations’
Tarek Mahmoud, lawyer and Secretary General of the Tahya Masr Fund, has accused leading Egyptian rights organizations of trying to destabilize the state during a meeting between NGOs and a US Congressional delegation. Mahmoud said that the six NGOs that met a delegation from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs presented “false statements and documents that fabricated the situation of human rights in Egypt.” In the statement from the fund, Mahmoud said that the NGOs discussed how to divert funds away from state bodies, as a way “to bring down the state institutions.” He accused the NGOs of receiving funds illegally from abroad and said that such meetings open the door to foreign interference in Egypt’s internal affairs. Tarek Mahmoud has previously used his position to target bodies seen as part of the pro-democracy movement in Egypt. Tarek Mahmoud has previously used his position to target bodies seen as part of the pro-democracy movement in Egypt. [DNE, 5/6/2015]
SECURITY
Armed forces, Sinai State continue social media warfare
The armed forces announced in a Tuesday statement its success in thwarting an attack launched by the Sinai State (formerly Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis) earlier in the day. A military spokesman noted that twenty militants launched the attack at dawn by firing mortar shells in a security zone in Sheikh Zuweid. The exchange of fire left three militants injured, who later escaped, leaving behind ammunition and weapons. However, the attack neither injured nor killed any security personnel. The Sinai State claimed to have injured fourteen security personnel after three mortar shells hit a central security camp in Rafah. The military spokesman neither confirmed nor denied the incident and noted that only the attacks announced through official statements occurred. Meanwhile, aerial bombardments of two locations near North Sinai’s Rafah city on Wednesday left twenty-one suspected militants dead, security sources said. [DNE, 5/6/2015]
Three Palestinian gunmen, two police recruits killed in Sinai
The Egyptian military Wednesday shot dead three Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated through a smuggling tunnel in the Sinai town of Rafah on the border with Gaza, security officials said. They said the “armed Palestinians” and the military clashed in a buffer zone established along the border. The gunmen had infiltrated through one of the smuggling tunnels used to transport fuel and food supplies to the Gaza Strip. Cairo accuses militants of the Palestinian movement Hamas, which controls Gaza, of using the tunnels to infiltrate Egypt and aid jihadists who launch regular attacks on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula. Two Egyptian police recruits were also killed on Thursday after exchanging fire with smugglers at a border post in the volatile Northern Sinai region, the interior ministry said. [AFP, Reuters, Aswat Masriya, Ahram Online, 5/7/2015]
Also of Interest
- Man dies in detention in Beheira after alleged torture | Cairo Post
INTERNATIONAL
Egyptian army forces free Ethiopians held in Libya says Sisi
A group of Ethiopians who had been kidnapped in Libya arrived at Cairo airport on Thursday after Egyptian army forces rescued them, state media quoted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as saying. But one Ethiopian in the group, and a Libyan source, appeared to cast doubt on that version of events, saying the men had only been held up by Libyan immigration. State TV broadcast live footage of Sisi greeting about thirty Ethiopians who had arrived on an Egyptian government plane. “Sisi announced during a seminar the success of the armed forces in returning the Ethiopian brothers who had been kidnapped in Libya,” state news agency MENA reported. The state broadcast gave no details of their identity, the manner of their release or circumstances of detention. [DNE, Reuters, Ahram Online, Aswat Masriya, 5/7/2015]
Also of Interest
- Cypriot president says Egypt most promising gas market for Cyprus | Egypt Independent
- South Sudanese president meets Egypt Foreign and Irrigation Ministers | SIS
- Cairo to host Syrian opposition meetings May 10 | Cairo Post