An Egyptian rights organizations said Wednesday that a military tribunal sentenced a man who took part in the 25 January revolution to five years in prison Tuesday following an unfair trial. Adel Ramadan, the legal affairs director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said the Criminal Military Tribunal in Nasr City sentenced Amr Abdalla al-Beheiri, 32, to five years in prison on Tuesday for assaulting a public servant. In statements to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Ramadan said the trial was not fair and only lasted five minutes. Ramadan added that the army arrested al-Beheiri on Saturday, questioned him on Sunday and then issued its ruling on Tuesday, in one of the fastest military trials. Ramadan added that the investigators did not inform al-Beheiri's family of the interrogation and he was tried without a defense laywer.No eyewitnesses were summoned during trial. Ramadan added that his organization only found out about the ruling by chance, adding that his organization intends to file a complaint with the military tribunal to reverse the ruling and hold another trial in civil court. Eyewitnesses say military forces arrested al-Beheiri on Friday night following a protest that called for the ouster of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq. Thousands of Egyptians protested in downtown Cairo last Friday. The military police, according to news reports, used force to disperse protesters who remained after 1AM, which led to some injuries. The Mubarak regime often used military tribunals to repress his opponents and decisions issued by the tribunals are not subject to appeal. Military tribunals have reviewed cases involving members of the Muslim Brotherhood and internet bloggers and have typically issued convictions. “Egyptian authorities must end the practice of trying civilians before military courts," Amnesty International has said. "This is an abuse of the Egyptian judicial system and the right to a fair trial. These trials are fundamentally unfair."
