Young, rich and in the dock

The opening of the Arcadia Mall murder trial proved that the hearings will be as sensational as they promised to be. Shaden Shehab was in court
Armoured vehicles, Central Security forces, plain-clothes policemen, distraught relatives and masses of people hoping to slip into the courtroom were the first sign that the trial of 29-year-old businessman Omar El-Hawari would be no ordinary murder trial. Dubbed by the press as the "Arcadia murderer", El-Hawari has already been convicted in the court of public opinion, but that hasn't stopped anyone from following the case as though it were an evening TV drama series.
The tragedy in question took place in the early hours of 12 April, at the upscale Pizza Pomodoro restaurant in Arcadia Mall, which overlooks the Nile in Boulaq district. Both El-Hawari and Mahmoud Rawhi, the 37-year-old board chairman of Hertz, Egypt, the country's top car rental company, were at the restaurant -- that much is certain. That Rawhi and El-Hawari did not like each other is undisputed, but the events of that night are the subject of widespread speculation and scandal-mongering in a city unused to high-profile murders.
Police say that El-Hawari stabbed Rawhi to death with a butterfly knife. Though investigations have not specified a clear motive behind the murder, rumours are rife. The murder received extensive press coverage and, indeed, became the talk of the town, as it took place in an elite restaurant and because both the accused assailant and the victim were young and wealthy.
The Cairo Criminal Court at Bab El-Khalq, near Fatimid Cairo, was not its usual self on Sunday. As reporters approached the court building, they were confronted by three armoured vehicles with police forces seated inside. Inquiring where the trial was taking place, reporters were told enthusiastically by an information officer: "The Arcadia murder? Hall nine." In fact, there was no need to ask -- following the line-up of the Central Security Forces would have been enough. Dozens of elegantly dressed women were jammed in the corridor pleading with police officers to let them into the courtroom, but only first relatives of the victim and the accused, as well as the press, were allowed in.
Inside the hall, the two sides of the courtroom were split between the defence and the prosecution -- "just to show respect for everybody's feelings," a police officer explained. On the left, the first three front rows were occupied by lawyers for Rawhi's family. One of them was asked how many they were, and he responded: "Don't count. There are lawyers from five firms representing the civil claimants." Seated on the right were El-Hawari's two attorneys: Maher El-Derbi, and an aide to Maamoun Salama, who was out of the country. Rawhi's parents did not attend, but El-Hawari's mother did.
The victim's family were seated behind the gaggle of lawyers for the prosecution: women wearing mourning black, their eyes covered by sunglasses, and men in dark business suits. To the right sat El-Hawari's family, mostly women, also wearing sunglasses. There were no confrontations, and the two sides avoided looking at each other most of the time. "We do not want to lose our case and become involved in disputes with the other family," said one of Rawhi's relatives. It seemed that El-Hawari's family shared the same view.
"El-Hawari did not kill anybody and this trial will prove so," El-Derbi told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Just wait and see, this trial will be full of surprises." Asking El-Hawari's mother questions proved pointless, since all she could do was smile and shake her head.
Soon officers were calling policemen to "take position" and "get ready", in preparation for El-Hawari's appearance. Handcuffed to two policemen on each side, his head down, El-Hawari made his way to the caged dock reserved for defendants. Dressed in the white uniform of prisoners on trial, he had two small bandages on his face -- the result, he claims, of the beating he received from Rawhi on 12 April.
Rawhi's family could not help but stare at the defendant and some women, including Rawhi's wife, wept openly. El-Hawari's mother and some of his relatives waved at him, trying to smile, but he kept on weaping silently until the end of hearings. Despite the protests of his family, press photographers were all over the place, looking for a good position from which to take his picture. He covered his face repeatedly.
After the three judges making up the court's panel took their seats, silence prevailed. "Omar, stand up," demanded Galal Ibrahim, the presiding judge. More cameras clicked as El-Hawari stood. "Did you murder Mahmoud Rawhi?" boomed Ibrahim.
"No," El-Hawari responded, his voice shaking.
"Did you carry a knife?" Again El-Hawari replied negatively.
Suddenly, El-Derbi broke in loudly: "Your honour, the defence would like to request the postponement of hearings until the next judicial season." Because courts recess from June to October, the defence is hoping that it can make use of the time to build a stronger case. "We were not permitted to look at the prosecution's investigations until yesterday [Saturday]," El-Derbi insisted. "How can we be expected to study such a complicated case overnight?" he demanded, adding that he couldn't understand the reason for rushing the trial. It took prosecutors a mere 10 days of investigations and interrogations before referring the case to the criminal court for an "urgent trial".
"This case is like any other murder case; we should not treat it otherwise," El-Derbi yelled.
Now Maher Abu-Shoqa, a lawyer and relative of Rawhi's family, spoke up. "Your honour, the defence had every opportunity to attend the investigations and read their minutes; at no time were they denied this," he said. Abu-Shoqa added that "postponing this trial to the next season would mean a postponement of justice. The defence is only trying to win time."
"I refuse this accusation categorically," retorted El-Derbi, showing an obvious flair for theatrics. "I will not accept it. If I knew that Omar was guilty, I would be the first to ask for the most severe penalty. We want time to find out the truth and this is why we are here."
"The decision will be taken at the end of this hearing," said the presiding judge, as he withdrew with the other two judges. Minutes later, one of the court's aides announced that the trial will be adjourned until 10 May.
Rawhi's family left almost immediately, whereas El-Hawari's relatives, some of them weeping, waited for the defendant to leave first. Head down and surrounded by police forces, El-Hawari exited the courtroom the same way he had arrived, while a crowd of passers-by outside asked feverishly, "What happened inside?"
Recommend this page
Related stories:
Death on the Nile corniche 26 April - 2 May 2001
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Send a letter to the Editor