Judge Mahmoud El-Khodeiri's resignation continues to reverberate through judicial circles, reports Mona El-Nahhas The chairmen of Egypt's judges' clubs met on Saturday evening to discuss their response to statements made by reformist judge Mahmoud El-Khodeiri following his resignation last month about the lack of judicial independence. Following the meeting, which lasted for nearly five hours, the 17 chairmen issued a statement in which they called on El-Khodeiri to remain silent. They denied any truth to his allegations, adding that they had agreed to close the file and not to take any legal measures against El-Khodeiri. Later reports emerged that at least five of the chairman had wanted to file official complaints about El-Khodeiri's remarks but were dissuaded from doing so. El-Khodeiri, former deputy chief justice of the Court of Cassation, cited the increasingly tight grip of the Ministry of Justice over judges as the main reason he resigned. In press interviews he accused the executive of interfering in the judicial affairs and of handpicking judges to hear controversial "cases of public opinion" in order to secure judgements favourable to the government. He also accused the executive of seeking to influence judges by offering financial incentives and promises of promotion. Pro-government judges now enjoy the upper hand on the boards of the Alexandria and Cairo judges' clubs following elections in 2008 and 2009, and currently dominated the majority of branch clubs. Unhappy with El-Khodeiri's statements, they have accused him of bringing the judiciary into disrepute, and several have pressed for an investigation into his conduct by the prosecutor-general. El-Khodeiri has said repeatedly that he is ready for any investigation and is able to back up all his accusations with documentary evidence. Pro-reform judge Hisham Bastawisi said he has no doubts at all that El-Khodeiri's statements are justified. Bastawisi, who is now working in Kuwait, called upon judges who valued their independence to back El-Khodeiri. "We should unite to combat the forces of corruption that are now launching a dishonourable campaign against a man whose only concern is reform of the judiciary," Bastawisi told the independent Al-Masry Al-Yom. Judge Ahmed Mekki, another high-profile judge who supports reform, urged the "younger generation of judges" to follow El-Khodeiri's lead and push for change. MP Hamdi Hassan, spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc, has requested People's Assembly speaker Fathi Sorour to table a debate on El-Khodeiri's resignation which, Hassan charged, had exposed the fallacy of any independent judiciary in Egypt. Nasser Amin, director of the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary, made the point somewhat more succinctly: "I don't think any of El-Khodeiri's allegations can have come as a surprise," he said. "It's something everyone knows."
