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Egypt's dismissed top prosecutor appeals ruling reinstating him Mubarak-era prosecutor-general appeals court order reinstating him citing delay in implementation, demands president's controversial November decree be formally scrapped
Dismissed Mubarak-era prosecutor-general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud has appealed a ruling by Egypt's Appeals Court reinstating him as top prosecutor – a ruling in his favour that reversed the constitutional decree that deposed him late last year. Mahmoud said his decision was due to the delay in implementing the ruling to reinstate him, as well as the fact that the verdict failed to describe the constitutional decree – issued in November by President Mohamed Morsi – as null and void. In his appeal to Egypt's Court of Cassation, Mahmoud stressed his insistence that Morsi's constitutional decree be formally scrapped. On 22 November, Morsi issued a controversial constitutional decree that allowed him to appoint Talaat Abdullah, the current prosecutor-general, in Mahmoud's place. Egypt's Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which, under the new constitution is responsible for appointing Egypt's prosecutor-general, does not have the authority to dismiss him, thus preventing the SJC from sacking Abdullah. While Mahmoud was seen as a Mubarak loyalist, Abdullah is now accused by some opposition elements as being beholden to Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood group from which the president hails. The issue has prompted a tug-of-war between the presidency and judiciary, with the latter accusing the former of attempting to encroach on its independence. The presidency, meanwhile, accuses the judiciary of complicity in failing to indict members of the former regime who have been accused of wrongdoing. The Muslim Brotherhood, meanwhile, has called for mass protests on Friday in downtown Cairo to demand a 'purge' of the judiciary. The planned protest will also urge the Shura Council (the upper house of Egypt's parliament, currently endowed with legislative powers) to ratify a proposed judicial authority law. Former Brotherhood leader Mahdi Akef recently accused Egyptian judges of "corruption," pointing out that the proposed law - that would lower the retirement age from 70 to 60 - would effectively mean the retirement of some 3,500 judges. A number of Appeal Court judges have called for investigations into Akef, who they accuse of "insulting judicial figures." http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/69589.aspx
