The trial of 101 Muslim Brotherhood activists accused of rioting during recent by-elections in Alexandria opened amid chaotic scenes. Khaled Dawoud was there The protests and clashes with police that accompanied the by- election battle that rocked Alexandria in late June seemed to be replayed, albeit on a smaller scale, at Al-Raml courthouse on Monday. Hundreds of family members and supporters of 101 suspected Muslim Brotherhood activists, who were arrested on the day of the election, had started pouring into court early Monday morning. They were all accused of rioting, illegally assembling, assaulting policemen and seeking to obstruct voting. Two Muslim Brotherhood candidates -- including a woman, for the first time in the group's 80-year history -- were competing against representatives of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) in the by-elections. Since the defendants include six lawyers, scores of their colleagues, led by the head of the Bar Association Sameh Ashour, also came to Alexandria to express solidarity and attend the opening session. Due to the large number of defendants, the prosecutors divided them into three groups: 35 were tried on Monday, 29 on Tuesday and 37 yesterday. A statement issued by the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) criticised the fact that the defendants were being tried according to the Emergency Law, meaning that sentences cannot be appealed before a higher court. The battle over the two seats designated for Al-Raml district -- the largest in Alexandria -- dates back to the 2000 general parliamentary elections. The two Muslim Brotherhood candidates won thousands of votes but too few to win the vote in the first round. NDP candidates Sami El-Guindi and Gomaa El-Gharabawi, in contrast, only managed a few hundred. Shortly before the second round was due to take place, the Ministry of Interior announced that there had been irregularities in the conduct of the first round and ordered the elections to be indefinitely suspended. It took nearly two years of legal battles by Brotherhood candidates until the Supreme Administrative Court ordered that elections would be held in Al-Raml on 28 June. On election day, the district took on the appearance of a battle zone. Thousands of anti-riot police were deployed on nearly every street in Al-Raml and surrounded all polling stations, in what was viewed as an attempt to prevent Muslim Brotherhood supporters from casting their votes. The result was violent clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and police, and a landslide victory for NDP candidates. More than 150 suspected Brotherhood sympathisers were arrested that day, but only 101 were referred to trial. Halafawi, who won nearly 5,000 votes in October 2000, only obtained 500 in late June. In the 2000 elections, 17 Muslim Brotherhood candidates won parliament seats, equivalent to the showing by the three major opposition parties. Observers believe the delay of elections in Alexandria indicated that government did not want to see any more Brotherhood members in parliament. On Monday, dozens of trucks carrying anti-riot police surrounded Al-Raml courthouse as the trial of the first group of 35 defendants started. Inside the courthouse, several clashes took place between police and angry family members who were banned from attending the opening session. Despite tight security measures at the court's many gates to prevent Brotherhood supporters from entering, many managed to sneak in. Whenever their number increased, the riot police began to push the crowd back to force them out of the courthouse. At one point, a policeman smacked a disabled man who fell to the ground, igniting the fury of the crowd which briefly clashed with police. The policemen at the court also refused to let any reporters into the courtroom. But as chaos prevailed, this reporter managed to sneak in. Handcuffed and clad in white uniforms, the defendants appeared in high spirits, exchanging laughter and handshakes with fellow lawyers. Finally, the trial session began at nearly 2pm and lasted for just over one hour. The Bar Association's chairman Ashour was the first to speak, asking the court to recognise what he described as "the political nature of the case, and the fact that it came amid an ongoing confrontation between the Brotherhood and the government". Like other lawyers who spoke at the opening session, he asked for the immediate release of all defendants because the majority held important posts and there were no grounds upon which to believe that they would flee. Ashour also ridiculed the charges made against the defendants, particularly the crime of "illegally assembling". "Could there ever be any elections without seeking to rally people and gathering them to cast their votes?" Ashour asked the court. He added that "the defendants were not gathering to protest against the government or hold a demonstration; they were arrested in front of polling stations while trying to cast their votes and exercise their constitutional rights." Ahmed El-Hamrawi, a member of Alexandria's Bar Association, also pointed out that two of the lawyers involved in the case were arrested one day before voting took place. "So, how can they be accused of obstructing elections and illegally assembling on that day?" El-Hamrawi queried. He added that what happened in Al- Raml confirmed opposition parties' complaints that having judges inside polling stations was insufficient to guarantee fair balloting. "What is the use of having a judge inside every polling station if he has no control over what is happening outside? These judges were kept next to the ballot boxes wondering why there were no voters, unaware of what the police were doing outside," stressed El-Hamrawi. While El-Hamrawi was making his case, he was interrupted by shouts from the families of the defendants who were peeking through the windows from the court's second floor. Children were hailing their fathers, while other relatives called the defendants by their first names. The defendants waved back, and the judge called for order in the court. Khalaf Bayoumi, one of the detained lawyers, told Al-Ahram Weekly that he and the other defendants were treated well in prison, "but we feel great injustice for being detained all this time while we have done nothing except trying to cast our votes." Shortly after the judge adjourned the session for deliberations, the defendants were whisked out of the courtroom back to jail. After waiting for nearly an hour outside the judge's rooms, a young tea maker came out to say: "What are you waiting for? Everybody left and the case was adjourned till next week." Apparently fearing more chaos, Judge Mohamed Hassan did not return to the courtroom to announce his decision to adjourn the case until 9 September. Until then the defendants will remain behind bars. The cases involving the other defendants were also adjourned to next week.
