Egypt urged to probe fraud

2006-04-26 12:21

Cairo - Human Rights Watch urged the Egyptian regime to investigate the fraud that marred last year's parliamentary polls and stop intimidating the judges who reported it.

The New York-based rights watchdog protested the summons to a disciplinary hearing of two outspoken pro-reform judges and the repression by police of a demonstration to support them earlier this week.

Joe Stork, deputy director of HRWs Middle East and North Africa programme, said: "The government is punishing judges just for doing their job.

"It should be investigating the widespread evidence of voter intimidation, not shooting the messengers who reported the fraud.

"These crude attempts to intimidate judges underscore the urgent need for judicial reform in Egypt."

A judge was wounded and 15 people detained on Monday after police broke up a demonstration of support for Hisham al-Bastwassi and Mahmud Mekki.

The two judges faced disciplinary action after denouncing the judiciary's involvement in rigging the November-December parliamentary elections that saw the ruling party retained a firm grip on power.

The judges, who were responsible for supervising the polling process, had become a symbol of the drive for reform in Egypt and were waging an aggressive campaign to demand more independence from the executive.

- AFP