Ismailia Appeals Court, currently reviewing evidence relating to mass prison escapes during the 25 January Revolution, held one of its most significant sessions on Saturday, Gamal Essam El-Din reports. Mahmoud Wagdi, Egypt's former interior minister during the early days of the revolution, told the court on 8 June that “elements of Al-Qassam brigades affiliated to the Islamist movement of Hamas, in collaboration with the Jihad and the Islamic Army groups in Gaza and the Shia Lebanese party of Hizbullah, teamed up during the early days of the 25 January Revolution to attack Egyptian prisons and release Islamist detainees.” “On 28 and 29 January 2011, these elements infiltrated the Egyptian borders and moved to attack three prisons: Wadi Al-Natroun, on the CairoAlexandria Desert Road, Al-Marg and Abu Zaabal, east of Cairo, and Fayoum, south of Cairo, to release incarcerated Islamist detainees from Hamas, Hizbullah and the Muslim Brotherhood. The elements which stormed prisons were heavily armed and highly trained. They infiltrated the borders of Egypt via tunnels between Sinai and Gaza, with the objective of releasing Islamist prisoners and spreading chaos in the country.” “After I was officially appointed as minister of interior on 29 January 2011, I received information from Maged Nouh, the chief officer in charge of the Central Security Forces [CSF] stationed at the Sinai border town of Rafah, that armed elements from the Gaza Strip, in collaboration with Sinai Bedouins, launched daily attacks against Egyptian forces. Injured assailants were taken back to the Gaza Strip.” Wagdi added that when he met former spy chief Omar Suleiman and told him about the Rafah attacks, “Suleiman informed me that intelligence agencies had information that forces of Al-Qassam brigades loyal to Hamas in Gaza had teamed up with Hizbullah militants to infiltrate Sinai on 28 January 2011. He also told me that these forces used heavy earthmoving machinery and sophisticated weapons and cars to storm prisons and were able to release between 70 and 90 Hizbullah prisoners detained in Abu Zaabal, Al-Marg, Fayoum and Wadi Al-Natroun, take them to Gaza and then to Lebanon by sea.” Wagdi also testified that on 18 February 2011 he received notification from Egypt's diplomatic office in Ramallah that Egyptian police and government-owned cars had been smuggled into Gaza Strip via tunnels. Wagdi also disclosed that Hamas and Hizbullah elements had not only joined protests during the early days of the revolution in Cairo and other governorates but some had even rented apartments overlooking Tahrir Square. Responding to Wagdi's statement Hamas denied it had a hand in attacking Egyptian prisons during the 25 January Revolution. Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zohri was quoted as saying accusations levelled at Hamas “form part of the current political game in Egypt”, and “statements by the former interior minister that Hamas broke into Egyptian prisons are baseless.” Human rights activist and a high-profile lawyer Amir Salem told a private television channel this week that “the testimony of Mahmoud Wagdi provides renewed evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood relied heavily on armed forces from Hamas, especially the Al-Qassam Brigades, not only for releasing its detainees but for torching police stations and spreading chaos.” “This was a part of a grand scheme aimed at stripping the Mubarak regime of its heavy security hand, helping the Muslim Brotherhood ride the wave of the revolution and then come to power.” “I think that Hamas has become a military wing for the Muslim Brotherhood,” said Salem. “This is what Omar Suleiman and several former state security officials have testified before courts.” On Sunday the Ismailia Court, headed by Khaled Mahgoub, listened in a closed door session to the testimony of four officers affiliated to State Security police and intelligence agencies. According to Salem, they testified that “Morsi and other Brotherhood officials were detained early on 28 January 2011, taken to the office of state security police at 6 October city and then transported to the Wadi Al-Natroun prison.” “These officials, including [Mohamed] Morsi, were detained for a matter of hours before Hamas forces intervened to release them,” claimed Salem. In a surprise move Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Abu Bakr Mahmoud has petitioned the chairman of Ismailia Appeals Court to recuse Mahgoub. Abu Bakr claims “Mahgoub is biased against the Muslim Brotherhood and should not be allowed to hold more sessions on the case.” The court is expected to give a decision on the recusal request next Saturday. On Sunday Mahgoub told the media people that he intended to expose all facts about the bloody events which hit Egypt during the early days of the 25 January Revolution and led to the death of thousands.
