- Military TribunalPrisoners of Conscience
- July 27, 2007
- 6 minutes read
BBC Surfers Reject Military Tribunal Against MB Leaders
BBC network has held a poll to know views of its website surfers over transferring a number of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) leaders to the military tribunal in Egypt . The poll drew 300 surfers from all over the world.
Most surfers who took part in the online poll expressed their outright rejection to these military courts against civilians.
A surfer said the Muslim Brotherhood as an outlawed group and the regime should accordingly refer it to the military court. “Modern international legislations aim primarily at fighting the spread of terrorism and confronting outlawed groups that may cause chaos and sedition and other domestic and foreign disorder. Thus, the referral to the military court is an effective means for fighting such groups although such courts are exceptional courts that lack any guarantee of justice. However, they faces exceptional conditions as well. This leads to the required balance. Exceptional conditions must be confronted by exceptional courts ” .
This is the view of one of the surfers who was opposed by many like Yasser from the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Yasser links between the Muslim Brotherhood”s support to the resistance movements in Occupied Palestine and referring MB leaders to the military tribunal and attempting to deal a death blow to MB financiers through freezing private properties of persons affiliated to this movement. “The regime thinks that the Islamic movement spearheads the fundraising campaign for the Palestinian resistance. After the landslide success in 2005 legislative elections, the regime decided not to allow the MB to make any more gains and to direct bone-crushing blows to weaken it. To achieve both targets, the regime adopted three methods: First: Hitting MB”s financial resources owned by individuals and the group. Second: Detaining MB leaders. Third: using the media to distort its image. All this takes place while pressure are exercised on Hamas and five-nation meetings with Rice in Jordan “.
On the other hand, a considerable number of Copts participating in the poll. The Copts posted conflicting views towards this issue. Victor from Cairo says “The Muslim Brotherhood hates the Copts, and if it assumes power in Egypt , which is possible, the Copts will turn into Dhimmis who must pay Jiziah ((tax imposed on the non-Muslims), and that members of this group will seize Copts” properties and may kidnap their girls and wives to make them convert to Islam by force.” The Coptic surfer accuses even the government of collaboratin with the Muslim Brotherhood when necessary. These claims were repeated by the media throughout past decades to to distort the image of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Youssef Hanna, another Copt, says:” I am a Christian and hate Islamic groups that adopted the method of violence. I an Egyptian and live in Egypt . Thus, my homeland”s stability concerns me. The regime holds military courts for, freezes assets and shuts down businesses of and deny the right to run for the elections from the movement that denounces violence. What is the logic and reason for these illegal actions . how will the society trust a regime that commits such injustices. The regime”s actions actually serve the violence movements”. This view can be proved on ground. During the 1960s, president Abd Al-Nasser tortured and detained and even executed thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members and leaders. These injustices had no effect on the MB ideology but it affected the ideology of some individuals.
Due to the unbearable tortures and detentions, some MB members started to brand as disbeliever the society that stops short of preventing the unjust ruler.
There are some participants from Arab countries, including Adel Al Amin, from Sanaa of Yemen, who said that the MB”s public rating is soaring high due to the Egyptian regime”s continuous injustices against such a reformist group.
We think that what in Egypt proves many things, starting from the state of chaos adopted by the ruling regime and not seeking a real reform like other Arab countries, in addition to the Muslim Brotherhood”s power which is clearly proved by the huge support of the Egyptian people and peoples from other Arab and Islamic countries.
Another commentator from Al-Dammam, who is seemingly naïve in his views, insisted that the Muslim Brotherhood adopts violence. His discourse shows he knows nothing about the Muslim Brotherhood.
Some of the surfers who participated in the online poll demanded president Mubarak to release the detainees, address people”s demands, and step down from office without passing this post to his son, aid strong indications supporting this view.
The impending question is: Will the Egyptian regime address the increasing calls for allowing freedom of speech, free elections which should be held under a judicial system that respects citizens away from the tyrannical grip of the security services.?.
This hope will not be implemented on the ground under the current regime. A surfer said” unless the regime changes its conduct, the slaves revolution will definitely come.
Observers notice that the cyberspace has become a place for the increasing criticism to the ruling Egyptian regime due to its aggressions towards the opposition groups, topped by the Muslim Brotherhood. This rising volume of criticism is in line with the attitude of the Egyptian society” that started to oppose through labour strikes. Even the elite sections like doctors and Azhar teachers threatened with strikes unless their demands are met.