Egypt Judges' Club chief takes over as justice minister

The head of Egypt’s Judges’ Club – a private guild comprising the nation’s judges –swore the oath of office on Wednesday as the country’s new justice minister.

Ahmed al-Zend replaces Mahfouz Saber, who submitted his resignation after making remarks in which he said that the “son of a garbage collector” should not be allowed to become a judge, drawing a public outcry.

Al-Zend was sworn in before President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and in the presence of Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, according to a statement issued by the presidency.

Al-Zend assumes the post only ten days after Mahfouz submitted his resignation in the wake of his controversial remarks.

As head of the Judges’ Club, al-Zend had been a strong critic of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, who was ousted by the army following mass protests against his government in mid-2013.

In late 2012, while Morsi was still president, al-Zend was attacked while leaving the club’s Cairo headquarters.

The attack came only minutes after al-Zend had called for the dismissal of the Morsi-appointed prosecutor-general.