Should Egypt's ruling military council reconsider the trial of civilians in military courts, sending them to civilian tribunals instead, asks Ahmad Mahmoud Since Egypt's 25 January Revolution, growing numbers of political activists, as well as thugs and criminals, have been referred for trial before military courts, with lawyer Adel Ramadan telling the international NGO Human Rights Watch recently that over 5,000 people had been sentenced by such courts between the beginning of February and the middle of March alone. The courts often handle large groups of defendants at once, with groups of five to 30 people receiving trials that can last between 20 and 40 minutes each. Such procedures raise questions about the kind of justice being implemented by the military courts, Ramadan said, as well as about why Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has been apparently dragging its feet over the civilian trials of leading members of the ousted former regime. Since the military trials came to light, nearly 100,000 activists have voiced their opposition to military trials for civilians on Facebook and Twitter. While this number may be small compared to Egypt's overall population, the silent majority may not support such trials either, and it has conspicuously failed to turn out in defence of figures from the regime of ousted former president Hosni Mubarak. The first military trial of civilians in Egyptian history took place in 1954, when members of the Muslim Brotherhood were accused of trying to assassinate former president Gamal Abdel-Nasser in Alexandria. Seven Brotherhood members were given the death sentence on this occasion, Mahmoud Abdel-Latif, Youssef Talaat, Ibrahim El-Tayeb, Hendawi Duweir, Mohamed Farghali, Abdel-Qader Ouda and Hassan El-Hodeibi, though the latter's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. The court was presided over by members of the Free Officers group that had taken power in the 1952 Revolution, with Salah Salem, Hussein El-Shafei and Anwar El-Sadat serving as judges. It took the military court just under one month to hand down various prison sentences to other Brotherhood members. Among those sentenced to life imprisonment was Mohamed Mahdi Akef, a future Brotherhood guide, who spent 20 years in prison before his release in 1974. A second round of military trials took place in 1965, when hundreds of Brotherhood followers were accused of trying to revive the then banned organisation. One of the main defendants was the writer and intellectual Sayed Qotb, who was sentenced to death along with Youssef Hawash and Abdel-Fattah Ismail. Seven others received death sentences that were later commuted to life imprisonment. Members of the Brotherhood also received a military trial under former president Mubarak's rule in January 1995, when 94 Brotherhood followers were prosecuted for "attempting to revive a banned group." Of these, 34 received sentences of between three and five years in prison, including Essam El-Iryan and Ibrahim El-Zaafarani, and 15 were acquitted. In November 1995, Brotherhood members faced a military court for the second time, when 33 received sentences of between three and five years in prison and 13 were acquitted. A further trial was held in the same month, in which two Brotherhood members received three to five years in prison and a third defendant was acquitted. In 1996, 13 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested in connection with the so-called Wasat Party case, among them former guide Mohamed Mahdi Akef. A military court handed down sentences of between three and five years in prison against eight defendants, including Akef, acquitting five others. In a further case in 1999, 20 Brotherhood members were referred for military trial, with 15 of them receiving prison sentences in 2000 and five being acquitted. In 2002, 22 Brotherhood members, including several university professors, were referred for military trial, and 15 of these, including Mohamed Ali Beshr, current guide Mohamed Badie, and lawyer Mokhtar Nouh, received prison sentences. Seven were acquitted. In 2007 and 2008, a further trial of Brotherhood members took place, with 40 members of the organisation, including deputy guide Khayrat El-Shater, facing charges of money laundering and financing a "banned group." It took a military court more than a year to hand down a verdict, with the court sentencing 25 to between three and five years in prison and acquitting 15 others. These trials took place under the country's emergency laws, which have been in force since 1981. The military trials that have taken place since Egypt's 25 January Revolution have been directed at defendants accused of thuggery and disturbing the peace, most of those facing the tribunals having been arrested during public disturbances. However, the large number of defendants suggests that some have been arrested simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and political activists have been particularly vulnerable to arrest. On 1 March this year, the SCAF added an amendment to the country's penal code that adds the crime of "thuggery" to those mentioned in Article 375 of the code. This is described as any "show of force threatening harm against the victim with the aim of intimidating him, threatening him with material or moral harm, or harming his property." Since this crime is included in the penal code, it can be tried before regular civilian courts, which could go some way towards satisfying the demands of human rights groups and serving the cause of justice. By Referring to history
