Egyptian judge hurt in protest
2006-04-24 14:38
Cairo - One judge was wounded and 15 activists were detained on Monday after Egyptian police broke up a protest in support of judges calling for reforms, said a security official.
Salma Said, one of the 40 protesters and a member of the pro-reform Youth for Change movement said: "Fifteen people were detained in the early hours of Monday outside the judges syndicate in Cairo. Plainclothed security tried to remove us by force.
"They beat some of the protesters up and when judge Mahmud Hamza came down to defend us, he was beaten up too." The judge was hospitalised, but his condition was not thought to be serious.
Pro-reform judges started a sit-in on April 19 to support two colleagues, who faced disciplinary action after allegedly helped rig the 2005 parliamentary polls that saw the ruling party retain a firm grip on power.
Judiciary 'has no independence'
Judge Nagui Derbala said: "Mahmud Hamza is the price the judges are paying for their independence. It is a message from a security service that does not respect the law.
"Every day there is more proof that there is no independence of the judiciary."
The judges' syndicate, which had become one of the most potent symbols of calls for change and reform in Egypt, had campaigned relentlessly over the past year to demand more independence from the executive branch.
Derbala said: "We will carry on with our demands as long as we live. We will insist on an independent judiciary." Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak denied any attempt by his regime to intervene in the judiciary system.
He said: "I will not intervene between judges out of respect for the judiciary's independence and esteem for its judges."