• EGYPT
  • September 1, 2012
  • 3 minutes read

Rights Activist Urges Constitutional Court to Drop Case Against Brotherhood Lawyers

Rights Activist Urges Constitutional Court to Drop Case Against Brotherhood Lawyers

Dr. Negad Al-Borai, Egyptian lawyer and human rights activist, expressed surprise at the lack of a strong reaction from the lawyers’ union to the case of Muslim Brotherhood lawyers Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maksoud and Nasser Alhafi, who were referred to the criminal court on charges of insulting the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC).


In an article in the independent newspaper ‘Al-Masry Al-Youm’, Borai Said: "Without lawyers, many intellectuals and thinkers would be in prisons now. Alhafi and Abdel-Maksoud were put on trial because they used their right to legal defense before the SCC – a right guaranteed to them by international law and the Constitution, and protected by the penal code".


Borai asked the SCC to withdraw immediately and without delay its case against the lawyers Alhafi and Abdel-Maksoud, “SCC judges know that the right of a lawyer to defense shall be maintained and respected".


"I call on the Bar Association to form a legal team, led by the chairman of the Bar, to defend our colleagues, to meet with SCC judges and urge them to withdraw their complaint. Because no law allows lawyers to be prosecuted themselves for defense efforts made in any case, even if defense arguments included what may be perceived as defamatory statements or slander.


"All Egyptian players rose in defense of the freedom of the media and its work when Al-Dostour newspaper’s editor-in-chief and the owner of TV Channel Al-Faraeen were put on trial, suddenly turning them into symbols of freedom, with all kinds of lawyers and politicians competing in their defense.


"Now, we do not hear one voice in defense of the protectors of freedom, simply because they have a certain political leaning."


Borai said that intimidation of lawyers will reflect negatively on the right of the accused to defense and the right of judges to relevant facts and information.