Ex-Justice Minister: Egyptian judiciary complicit in coup against Morsi

Judge Ahmed Sulaiman who served as the last Minister of Justice in the Morsi government said that he had sent a letter to Morsi before June 30 complaining of what he described as “complicity of state institutions” in concealing evidence that would otherwise condemn the Mubarak regime.

In an interview with Al-Araby Al-Gadid website, Sulaiman said that the state’s refusal to provide him with information and evidence that would have implicated Mubarak and his aides has led to their acquittal.

From the first day of Morsi’s presidency, Sulaiman said, state agencies, also known as the deep state, refused to cooperate with him, and deliberately provided him with inaccurate data to hinder his work.

Moreover, Sulaiman condemned the mass death sentences handed down by post-coup judiciary against opponents of the military coup. He said that the judge who handed down the Minya Court death sentences has committed a criminal and constitutional crime.

“Egyptian judiciary is passing through its worst time in history,” Sulaiman said.

“There is lots of evidence to support that, particularly the principle of justice in dealing with judges. For instance, while anti-coup judges were repressed, the chairman of the Judges Club Ahmad Al-Zend opened the doors of the club to members of Tamarod movement to recruit supporters to the overthrow of Morsi, which was unprecedented in our history as it constitutes a clear political activity.”

He pointed out that Tamarod judges joined the protests in Tahrir ahead of Morsi’s ouster. Their pictures and videos in Tahrir have gone viral, and other judges lodged complaints against them, but in vain. On the other hand, he said, when the Independent Judges front announced their opposition to the July 3 military coup, the club immediately dismissed them, in stark contrast to how it dealt with pro-coup judges.