237 held for supporting judges

2006-05-11 22:03

Cairo - Demonstrations in solidarity with two Egyptian judges, who faced disciplinary hearings on Thursday morning, were forcefully dispersed by Egyptian police in Cairo.

About 10 000 Egyptian security force officers prevented 2 000 activists from the Moslem Brotherhood and the left-leaning opposition umbrella movement, Kifaya/Enough, from demonstrating.

Egyptian security officials said 237 demonstrators, mostly from the Muslim Brotherhood, had been arrested.

Witnesses said some activists were bleeding as they were taken away in armoured police cars.

Journalists attempting to cover the demonstrations were harassed by security forces and prevented from reporting the events.

A cameraman from the Arabic satellite channel, Al-Jazeera, was beaten in the face and had his camera confiscated.

Demonstatrations in Eghypt are banned

A Reuters photographer had his camera broken. Reporters and photographers from other news agencies also said they were beaten.

A number of streets in downtown Cairo were entirely sealed off.

Demonstrations have been banned in Egypt since the renewal of the country's emergency law on April 29.

Egyptian police have arrested protestors taking part in demonstrations en masse.

Before Thursday, 48 activists had been arrested for demonstrating in support of Egyptian judges' demands for the independence of the judiciary from the executive branch of government.

Six arrested in Alexandria

About 35 of these detained activists went on hunger strike in prison cells this week.

Smaller demonstrations in the northern city of Alexandria and the southern city of Assiut were also forcefully put down, said witnesses.

At least six activists were arrested in Alexandria.

The two judges, Mahmoud el Mekki and Hisham al Bastawisi, who were facing disciplinary hearings, said they were prevented from entering the courtroom with their judges and lawyers.

They then "refused to enter the courtroom without their defence team" said Mahmoud al Askalani, media spokesperson for Cairo's Judges' Club.

Their case has been postponed until May 18.

Mekki and Bastawisi are facing disciplinary hearings for their role in leaking reports to the media about electoral violations and acts of vote rigging, allegedly perpetrated during Egyptian parliamentary elections between October and December.

- SAPA