Denying a cleaner's son the right to become a judge

The Minister of Justice in Cairo has enraged Egyptians with his remarks against cleaners which highlight the class divisions within society. Mahfuz Sabir caused an uproar when he said that poor people have no right to assume high-ranking posts, including jobs in the judiciary.

Asked in a television interview about the prospect of appointing the son of a cleaner as a judge, the minister said, “With all due respect to cleaners, the judge has to come from a background that is appropriate for this kind of work.” Judges, claimed Sabir, have “sublime social status” and so should be appointed from backgrounds “respectable both materially and morally.” The upbringing of a cleaner’s son in a poor environment, he explained, does not qualify him to be a judge. “Should such a person become a judge,” he added, “he would have to succumb to crises and psychological problems that would inevitably affect his work and his ability to exercise the responsibilities of his job, and therefore would not last long in this profession.” Other jobs are “more appropriate” for a cleaner’s son.

The minister claimed that experience has shown that even when given a chance to join the legal profession, people from poor backgrounds cannot cope, primarily because their background is “far below” the social status required of a judge. He suggested that while cleaners are to be appreciated for their work, they should bring up their children to be educated and qualified for other “respectable” jobs, but not within the judiciary.

Predictably, this has caused a storm on social media. Activists have called for Sabir’s removal from his position in the government, with the hashtag #sack_justice_minister going viral.

“The remarks by the racist coup minister unveil the ugly face of those in charge of our country,” wrote human rights activist Haytham Abu Khalil. “This deranged minister should be prosecuted for undermining social stability.” The son of an honest cleaner is a million times better than the son of a corrupt judge who is bribed and who issues his verdicts on the phone, he insisted.

Mohamed Elbaradei, who served as an advisor to the provisional president before the election which brought the coup leader Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to power, reminded the minister of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “This asserts the principle of equality and equal opportunities for all,” he said, while noting the absence of social justice in Egypt. “When the concept of justice disappears from a country, nothing remains.”

Journalist Ismael Al-Iskandarani asked whether the people are horrified by the minister’s remarks because this is the first that they have heard of such an obvious glass ceiling in Egyptian society. “Or is this just the first time that they have heard such a thing spoken about in public?”

Describing the rulers of Egypt as “criminals, murderers and butchers”, poet Abd Al-Rahman Yousef also attacked the minister of justice and called for his prosecution. “Had there been a respectable regime ruling this country, someone like this person would have long ago been prosecuted and would have been thrown into prison for making such a remark,” he wrote on Facebook. “The cleaning worker is a hundred times more honourable than those who run the country.”

According to law Professor Nur Farhat, the minister’s remarks could leave him open to prosecution for violating international law. He also wondered aloud what Al-Sisi thinks of the comments. “What is the stance of the President of the Republic who claims to be the supporter of the poor?” he asked.