60 Egyptian judges disciplined for signing a statement supporting Rabaa sit-in

Egyptian judicial body decided on Monday to refer 60 judges of different judicial levels to the Judges Disciplinary Board on charges that they had signed a statement supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, Anadolu news agency reported.

Citing a judicial source, the agency reported that Judge Mohammed Shereen Fahmy, delegated by the Cairo Appeals Court to investigate the issue, decided to refer the 60 judges, including several who are out of the country and who belong to the “Judges for Egypt” movement, to the disciplinary board, which is an inquiry commission at the Supreme Judicial Council, and called for them to be removed from office.

The disciplinary committee has the authority to force the judges to retire, which has happened to a number of the movement’s leaders over the past few months, most notably Walid Sharabi and Imad Abu Hashem—both for the same charges: bias for a political faction, the Muslim Brotherhood, and alleged involvement in politics.

The source explained that the decision came at the conclusion of the investigations that took place, which convicted them of supporting a political faction, the Muslim Brotherhood, through signing a relevant statement on 24 July 2013, which was read by Mahmoud Mohieddin from inside the headquarters of the Rabaa sit-in in eastern Cairo.

The Egyptian security forces forcefully dispersed the sit-ins in support of ousted President Mohamed Morsi in the Rabaa and Nahda Masr squares in Cairo on 14 August 2013, leaving hundreds of them dead and thousands wounded, according to official figures.

Other officials, who are not judges, are also suspected of being involved, according to the investigations, including ex-justice minister Ahmed Mekki and his brother, the ex-vice president, Mahmoud Mekki. Judge Fahmy is expected to continue questioning them as they are being accused of incitement through the preparation of this statement for which they held a meeting on a floating riverboat in the Maadi district in southern Cairo.

According to Anadolu, the Supreme Judicial Council, the official body entrusted with the management of judicial affairs in Egypt, had assigned Judge Fahmy to investigate the incident when a number of judges issued a statement from the headquarters of the Rabaa sit-in, in which they announced their rejection of President Morsi’s ouster.

Judges for Egypt is a movement that consists of a group of judges affiliated to different judicial bodies. The group’s name has been associated with the Egyptian presidential elections in 2012 following the Egyptian revolution of 25 January 2011, which toppled former President Hosni Mubarak. The group communicated with the public directly through press conferences and has been criticised for playing a political role.

For its part, the pro-Morsi Independence of the Judiciary Front (IJF) has condemned what it called “the continued and systematic punishment of judges and leaders who defend the full independence of the judicial system”.

The IJF statement also explained its rejection of the politicised legal decisions issued against a number of honourable judges to settle accounts that are clearly political.