On January 10, I commented on the Supreme Administrative Court's ruling of December 27, 2008, to refer Article VI of the martial law, which permits the trial of civilians before military courts, to the Supreme Constitutional Court, in the suspicion of it being unconstitutional. Then Dr. Essam el-Erian, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood group, noted to me that there was another ruling in 1995 to the same effect, in response to a lawsuit filed by Dr. Mohamed Selim Al-Awa. This means that the Supreme Constitutional Court has not ruled in this matter since then for some unknown reason. I got later busy with the events of Gaza, but I promised Dr. Erian that I would pick up the subject again soon. Ten days later, Magdi Ahmed Hussein, Chief Editor of the ceased ‘Shaab' newspaper and Secretary-General of the frozen Labor Party, was being tried before a military court in Ismailia, which has sentenced him to two years, and fined him LE 5,000 on charges of infiltration to Gaza without permission from the competent authorities. That court had also sentenced the political activists Ahmed Abu Doma and Ahmed Kamal Abdel Al, which I do not know are ceased or frozen, to one year, and fined them LE 2,000 each on the same charges. To be clear, I was against Hamas urging the Egyptians to storm the Rafah crossing, and claiming that Egypt is collaborating in the siege, as I believe that it is Hamas that is primarily responsible for the closure of the crossing due to it rejecting the return of the Europeans and the representatives of the Palestinian National Authority, as per the 2005 Agreement. Therefore, any response from the Egyptians would be a breach to the law. In this context, we can understand the motives behind trying Magdi Hussein, yet not before a military court, for he is a civilian, and his offense is punishable by a fine according to the civilian law, not by imprisonment, according to an order issued by the military ruler in accordance with the emergency law of 1995.
Also, it is a peaceful political offense dictated by humanitarian motives to express solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, a feeling no different than that of any other Egyptian citizen. Fortunately, the amendment introduced last past year to the martial law allows appeal. So in the meantime, all efforts should now be directed towards stopping the imprisonment sentence of Magdi Hussein and the other two, which I understand the military court can order. The question now is: When will the Supreme Constitutional Court rule on Article VI of the martial law?
