The "Lawyers against Raising Judicial Fees" movement has announced it will stage a march next Tuesday from the Bar Association to the People's Assembly while the bill is being discussed. The movement also said it would burn dummies representing People's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour, the head of the Assembly's Budget and Planning Committee Ahmed Ezz, and Justice Minister Mamdouh Marie during the march. The movement also affirmed it was getting ready to go on a general strike in all tribunals nationwide. The lawyers escalated their protests yesterday, as they lay with blankets in front of the entrance of the Bar Association and called on the public opinion and the People's Assembly MPs to meet their demands, i.e. to abolish the "protection money" imposed by the law on increasing the judicial fees, as they put it. Helwan Court stopped considering misdemeanor lawsuits and personal status cases because of the lawyers' strike. The chief judge decided to halt procedures yesterday after talking to the officials. This came after the lawyers prevented everyone from entering the tribunal and spread into its corridors to prevent people from getting to the counter. Dozens of lawyers staged a protest in front of the tribunal and hung boards reading: "Justice doesn't need fees", "Down with the businessmen's government" and "A strike against poverty and hunger is legitimate". They also chanted the slogans "Mr. Marie, has justice been privatized or what?" and "The People's Assembly and the fee bill are invalid". More than 8,000 lawyers in the governorate of Menoufia joined their colleagues in the other governorates. They refrained from working at criminal courts as a way to escalate their protest, as they said the government had ignored their demands. The Freedom Committee of Dakahlia Bar Association staged a protest yesterday in front of the court compound in Mansoura to protest against the judicial fee bill and especially Article 9. They raised the slogans "Mr. Justice Minister, they're fees, not protection money" and "Down the justice minister and the bill". Some 200 lawyers in Port Said staged a protest in front of the court to demand that the new law be revoked. The security forces, though, surrounded the court and foiled the march that the lawyers were due to stage. Quarrels broke out between the two parties.
