First convicted insulter TANTA Misdemeanour Court on Monday sentenced opposition activist Ahmed Doma to six months in prison on charges of insulting President Mohamed Morsi. Doma has been held since 30 April after calling the president “a criminal” in a TV show. Doma paid LE5,000 to be released on bail until he appeals. The prosecution determined a session for Saturday 26 October. Doma is the first prominent critic of Morsi to be convicted on the charge which has been levelled at other activists. Dozens of supporters gathered in front of the court to express solidarity with Doma, a member of the Popular Current. They chanted slogans against the president and Muslim Brotherhood. Doma arrived in court on Monday morning. Dozens of political activists and members of the 6 April movement gathered in front of the court ahead of the verdict, raised banners with the movement's slogan. Doma, who has been an activist since the Mubarak regime, was arrested when the military was managing the country in 2012, following a clash with military personnel in front of the Egyptian cabinet headquarters near Cairo's Tahrir Square. Though he was accused of incitement and vandalism, he was conditionally released in April pending further investigation. On 16 March Doma was beaten along with other activists by Brotherhood supporters while painting anti-Brotherhood graffiti outside the group's headquarters in Muqattam. The leftist activist opted not to file a lawsuit against the Brotherhood due to what he described as lack of trust in the justice system, vowing to fight the group politically instead.
Found dead A CORPSE has been found in Matrouh governorate, 240km west of Alexandria, during a military search for army soldier Essam Mokhtar who has been missing since 29 May. The body was found between Matrouh and the northwest border city of Saloum. According to an army spokesperson, the identity of the body could not be initially determined due to an advanced stage of decay. The corpse was sent to a lab in Alexandria on Tuesday morning for DNA tests and further investigation, the spokesperson said. Mokhtar went missing last Wednesday while returning home from Egypt's Western military zone. The soldier's brother reported him missing after Mokhtar failed to turn up for work for two days, Al-Ahram reported. Authorities searching for the army soldier have confirmed that Mokhtar was not kidnapped and are waiting to hear from lab tests regarding the corpse.
Cutting off Corniche DOZENS of Helwan residents cut off the Corniche road Tuesday morning to protest against the disappearance of a young girl. After negotiations failed to persuade protesters to open the road, security forces arrested 16 demonstrators accused of cutting off the road. The incident caused heavy traffic congestion for drivers coming along the Helwan Corniche towards the direction of Tahrir Square. Traffic police helped clear vehicles until the road was opened.
New Cassation president THE COURT of Cassation, headed by Ahmed Momtaz Metwalli, holds its annual general assembly on Tuesday to choose its new president succeeding Metwalli. Metwalli reaches the age of retirement on 30 July. The general assembly meeting will also choose the first and second court deputies. At the Abdel-Aziz Fahmi Hall in the Court of Cassation headquarters, the assembly was scheduled to hold their meeting at 12 noon. Members gathered to register their names to complete the quorum. The number of Court of Cassation members is 400.
