Egypt court threatens strike over Mursi decree
04:34PM Wed 28 Nov, 2012
Protesters pack Tahrir Square to call for a second revolution as they say nothing has changed under Islamist president
Cairo: Egypt’s Court of Cassation, the final appeals court, will suspend operations until the revocation of President Mohammad Mursi’s decree granting himself additional powers, state-run Middle East News Agency reported.
Many judges and prosecutors have suspended work in protest over a decision they say undercuts their legitimacy.
Amid renewed clashes between protesters and police in central Cairo, the Supreme Constitutional Court said it was “saddened” when Mursi joined in attacks on its justices.
Maher Sami, the court’s deputy chief, denied allegations that it had been politically motivated when it ruled in June to invalidate the Islamist-dominated parliament’s lower house.
“The court will not be intimidated by threats, warnings or blackmail and will not succumb to any pressures against it,” Sami said in a statement read out on television.
“It’s ready to face all of this, however high the price may be, even if it costs the lives of its judges.”
The comments by the court, which is due on December 2 to hear a case testing the legitimacy of the panel drafting Egypt’s constitution, followed a night of mass demonstrations in the capital.
In scenes reminiscent of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak, tens of thousands of secularists and young activists chanted against Mursi in Tahrir Square, demanding he rescind a decree shielding his decisions from the judiciary. Some called for his ouster, while smaller protests and clashes with Brotherhood members reverberated around Egypt.
Mahmoud Saleh, a law student, feels little has changed in Egypt. So he is back to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, which was the cradle of the anti-Mubarak revolt.
“Practically nothing has changed since Mubarak’s fall. The police are still oppressive. Genuine freedom is elusive. Mubarak’s corrupt National Democratic Party has been replaced with the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said.
As Saleh was speaking, a suffocating cloud flew over the spot caused by excessive tear gas fired on Wednesday by police clashing with stone-hurling protesters on the edge of the square near the US embassy. Forty-two people were injured in the violence, according to volunteers at a field hospital in the square.
“Where is the better life Mursi has promised? Corruption is still rife. The poor are getting poorer,” Saleh told Gulf News.
Saleh, a native of the Delta town of Menufiya, is joining thousands of protesters packing Tahrir for what they call a “second revolution” to pressure Mursi into rescinding the decree granting himself extensive new powers.
“Mursi and his entourage seem not to have learnt a lesson from the fate of Mubarak now languishing in prison. He [Mursi] is acting as [if] Egyptians [are] stupid by portraying his dictatorial powers as a cure-all for the country’s diseases,” Saleh said.
Mursi, who took office in June, on Thursday signed a constitutional declaration shielding all his decisions and laws from judicial review or legal challenge.
It also bars courts from dissolving an Islamist-controlled assembly crafting a new constitution and the upper house of parliament.
Mursi already holds legislative authority after the country’s top court dissolved the lower house of parliament.
Thursday’s decree has been blasted by the opposition as a “coup of legitimacy and democracy”.
The decree has sparked violence between opponents and supporters in several areas of Egypt and attacks on Brotherhood’s offices. At least 210 people were injured in clashes between Mursi’s opponents and backers in five provinces, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
Mursi said that his measures are temporary until a new constitution is approved and parliament elected.
He has called for talks to defuse the crisis with the opposition, which set the reversal of the decree as a precondition
“I am happy at the current scene in Tahrir because it confirms that the Egyptian people will oppose any encroachment on their freedom,” said Mohammad Al Beltajui, a senior official in the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Mursi is different from Mubarak,” Al Beltajui told a talk show on a private TV station late Tuesday. “Mursi is an elected president while Mubarak ruled by rigging [elections].”
However, the rationale rings hollow to William Assad, a Christian protester.
“Mursi is a dictator, who has divided Egypt along religious lines,” he said. “He is presenting us with two bad options: either to vote for the constitution being written by his Islamist allies or accept his dictatorial powers,” he said from one of more than 100 tents pitched in Tahrir for an open-ended strike.
Representatives of Egyptian churches and secular-minded members have quit the Constituent Assembly, accusing Islamist colleagues of holding sway over the draft constitution that will be put up for a public vote.
“The only positive aspect of Mursi’s declaration is that it has reunified Egyptians and prompted them to flock to Tahrir again,” said Assad, noting that protesters camping out in the square include people from different social and education backgrounds.
“As happened during the revolution against Mubarak, the people in Tahrir now do not think whether they are Muslims or Christians, educated or illiterate. They all want freedom, dignity and social justice,” he added, recalling the slogans that reverberated across Tahrir during 18-day protest against Mubarak.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypt’s highest court, lashed out at Mursi for accusing the court of issuing pre-conceived, politicised rulings.
“This is a very serious accusation, which should not pass without accountability,” Maher Sami, the spokesman for the court, told reporters.
Sami challenged Mursi to come forward with evidence.
“We will not be intimidated by threats, blackmail or pressure from any side,” he added.
In June, the court dissolved the People’s Assembly, or the lower house of parliament, where Mursi’s Brotherhood and Islamist allies wielded a clear majority.
- With inputs from AFP
Source : Gulf News
Cairo: Egypt’s Court of Cassation, the final appeals court, will suspend operations until the revocation of President Mohammad Mursi’s decree granting himself additional powers, state-run Middle East News Agency reported.
Many judges and prosecutors have suspended work in protest over a decision they say undercuts their legitimacy.
Amid renewed clashes between protesters and police in central Cairo, the Supreme Constitutional Court said it was “saddened” when Mursi joined in attacks on its justices.
Maher Sami, the court’s deputy chief, denied allegations that it had been politically motivated when it ruled in June to invalidate the Islamist-dominated parliament’s lower house.
“The court will not be intimidated by threats, warnings or blackmail and will not succumb to any pressures against it,” Sami said in a statement read out on television.
“It’s ready to face all of this, however high the price may be, even if it costs the lives of its judges.”
The comments by the court, which is due on December 2 to hear a case testing the legitimacy of the panel drafting Egypt’s constitution, followed a night of mass demonstrations in the capital.
In scenes reminiscent of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak, tens of thousands of secularists and young activists chanted against Mursi in Tahrir Square, demanding he rescind a decree shielding his decisions from the judiciary. Some called for his ouster, while smaller protests and clashes with Brotherhood members reverberated around Egypt.
Mahmoud Saleh, a law student, feels little has changed in Egypt. So he is back to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, which was the cradle of the anti-Mubarak revolt.
“Practically nothing has changed since Mubarak’s fall. The police are still oppressive. Genuine freedom is elusive. Mubarak’s corrupt National Democratic Party has been replaced with the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said.
As Saleh was speaking, a suffocating cloud flew over the spot caused by excessive tear gas fired on Wednesday by police clashing with stone-hurling protesters on the edge of the square near the US embassy. Forty-two people were injured in the violence, according to volunteers at a field hospital in the square.
“Where is the better life Mursi has promised? Corruption is still rife. The poor are getting poorer,” Saleh told Gulf News.
Saleh, a native of the Delta town of Menufiya, is joining thousands of protesters packing Tahrir for what they call a “second revolution” to pressure Mursi into rescinding the decree granting himself extensive new powers.
“Mursi and his entourage seem not to have learnt a lesson from the fate of Mubarak now languishing in prison. He [Mursi] is acting as [if] Egyptians [are] stupid by portraying his dictatorial powers as a cure-all for the country’s diseases,” Saleh said.
Mursi, who took office in June, on Thursday signed a constitutional declaration shielding all his decisions and laws from judicial review or legal challenge.
It also bars courts from dissolving an Islamist-controlled assembly crafting a new constitution and the upper house of parliament.
Mursi already holds legislative authority after the country’s top court dissolved the lower house of parliament.
Thursday’s decree has been blasted by the opposition as a “coup of legitimacy and democracy”.
The decree has sparked violence between opponents and supporters in several areas of Egypt and attacks on Brotherhood’s offices. At least 210 people were injured in clashes between Mursi’s opponents and backers in five provinces, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
Mursi said that his measures are temporary until a new constitution is approved and parliament elected.
He has called for talks to defuse the crisis with the opposition, which set the reversal of the decree as a precondition
“I am happy at the current scene in Tahrir because it confirms that the Egyptian people will oppose any encroachment on their freedom,” said Mohammad Al Beltajui, a senior official in the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Mursi is different from Mubarak,” Al Beltajui told a talk show on a private TV station late Tuesday. “Mursi is an elected president while Mubarak ruled by rigging [elections].”
However, the rationale rings hollow to William Assad, a Christian protester.
“Mursi is a dictator, who has divided Egypt along religious lines,” he said. “He is presenting us with two bad options: either to vote for the constitution being written by his Islamist allies or accept his dictatorial powers,” he said from one of more than 100 tents pitched in Tahrir for an open-ended strike.
Representatives of Egyptian churches and secular-minded members have quit the Constituent Assembly, accusing Islamist colleagues of holding sway over the draft constitution that will be put up for a public vote.
“The only positive aspect of Mursi’s declaration is that it has reunified Egyptians and prompted them to flock to Tahrir again,” said Assad, noting that protesters camping out in the square include people from different social and education backgrounds.
“As happened during the revolution against Mubarak, the people in Tahrir now do not think whether they are Muslims or Christians, educated or illiterate. They all want freedom, dignity and social justice,” he added, recalling the slogans that reverberated across Tahrir during 18-day protest against Mubarak.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypt’s highest court, lashed out at Mursi for accusing the court of issuing pre-conceived, politicised rulings.
“This is a very serious accusation, which should not pass without accountability,” Maher Sami, the spokesman for the court, told reporters.
Sami challenged Mursi to come forward with evidence.
“We will not be intimidated by threats, blackmail or pressure from any side,” he added.
In June, the court dissolved the People’s Assembly, or the lower house of parliament, where Mursi’s Brotherhood and Islamist allies wielded a clear majority.
- With inputs from AFP
Source : Gulf News
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