The defense of the victims of Al-Salam 98 ferry demanded that the first-instance ruling that acquitted all the accused be annulled and that the appeal be accepted. This fourth session was held amid tight security measures. It started at 12 a.m. and was attended by many relatives of the victims and by leading figures of human rights organizations and movement, plus a Saudi lawyer and 30 members of the relatives' defense team. The session was devoted to the pleading of the victims' defense. Lawyer Yasser Fathi demanded that the lawsuit be turned from a misdemeanor into a criminal one. He accused the Public Prosecution of leaving aside all the evidence concerning the state of Al-Salam 98 ferry, the report of the technical committee, witnesses' testimonies and the report of the fact-finding committee. The lawyer also questioned the testimony given by the former chairman of the Authority for Maritime Safety Hussein el-Hermil and called for him to be questioned over his contradicting testimonies during the investigations. The lawyer also claimed the court was not competent to consider the lawsuit, as the latter included the crime of murder by failing to rescue and the forgery and use of official documents. He unveiled that the Administrative Prosecution had recorded in its report 40 transgressions by Al-Salam Company. For his part, relatives' lawyer Mohamed el-Demati insisted that no lawyers of the accused might attend the trial, calling instead for the appearance of the accused themselves. He also leveled the charges of murder by failing to rescue the victims. The security services banned satellite TV channels from broadcasting the session and let only the press in. For the second time, the trial was attended (behind bars) by the Saint Catherine ferry captain Salah Gomaa, while none of the lawyers defending Mamdouh Ismail appeared. The person in charge of civil rights at Al-Salam Company asked for two sessions to be devoted to his pleading. The court set for tomorrow the second session to hear the rest of the pleading of the victims' lawyers and the pleading of the lawyers of the accused.
