CAIRO: The Military Court will give Monday a verdict on the charges against eight civilian workers who belong to an army factory. The eight workers had been detained after leading a strike to protest poor safety conditions inside an army-affiliated factory earlier this month. “On Sunday's hearing, the defense team made their pleas calling for acquitting the defendants, whereas the court continued listening to the witnesses,” Adel Zakaria, spokesman for the Center for Trade Union and Workers' Services (CTUWS), told Daily News Egypt. “The lawyers also contested the constitutionality of trying the workers before a military court,” Zakaria added. During the earlier hearing held on Saturday, the court listened to the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses and that of the former board chairman of the factory allegedly assaulted by the workers. “The defense team argued that the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses supported the workers' stance since neither of them confirmed the assault incident,” Zakaria noted. Reporters were denied entry into the courtroom of all trial sessions. On Aug. 3, eight Helwan Engineering Industries Company workers had been arrested for leading a 3-day strike to object to an accident where a nitrogen tube went off inside the factory, also known as Military Factory 99, killing one colleague and injuring many others. The workers were accused of refraining from work and assaulting a public official, the chairman of the board, who is an army general. Another worker was charged with unveiling military secrets after he attempted to contact the media to expose the situation since they work for an army factory, though it manufacturers appliances not weapons. The factory chairman was reportedly sacked after the incident. In addition to other charges, the seven other defendants were accused of causing damage to parts of the factory building in an angry response to the explosion accident. On Aug. 14, the military prosecution ordered they be held in custody pending investigation. They were then held on remand for four more days. However, the workers were suddenly referred to a military court three days later. Meanwhile, Amnesty International called on the Egyptian authorities in recent statement to try the workers before a civilian court “for recognizable criminal offences, in line with international standards for fair trial or else they should be released.” According to the human rights watchdog, this is the first trial since the authorities amended the Military Justice Code in June to allow workers in a military factory to be tried before a military court for “stopping work in utilities of public interest" and "assault on freedom to work,” preventing others from working. "Trials of civilians before military courts, whose judges are serving members of the military, flout international standards of fair trial and are inherently unjust," the statement said. “Such trials violate the right to a fair and public hearing before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law as guaranteed in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Egypt is a state party,” the statement added. Military courts were established in Egypt under the Code of Military Justice (Law No. 25 of 1966). The Law was amended in April 2007, but the changes did not address the fundamental flaws inherent in trying civilians before military courts. Sentences by military courts cannot be appealed.
