A lawsuit was filed on Thursday against the Egyptian military council and the prime minister to put an end to civilians facing military courts. The lawsuit was filed by The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) on behalf of the plaintiff journalist Rasha Azeb and others. The lawsuit challenges cases where civilian defendants have not committed an army related crime or the act was not done on military grounds. According to ECESR, Azab, who writes for al-Fagr weekly newspaper, was arrested in Tahrir Square while doing her job and was assaulted and beaten along with five other journalists. They were then taken to the military prosecutor before finally released hours later. The case also affirms that hundreds of the young protesters who were arrested following the start of the demonstrations on January 25, face military investigations and trials and some were handed tough sentences. “The exceptional circumstances and putting the Constitution on hold are no grounds for dictatorship rule or and tyranny,” said Khaled Ali, head of ECESR, in a statement. He added that the changes the country is witnessing must not create absolute power or authority without limits. Ali added that the authorities “must adhere to the rights and public freedoms, especially guarantees of fair trial before a civil judge.” Military trials have been a tool of the former regime to crack down on “unwanted” figure in public life and tens of the Muslim Brotherhood group have faced military trails in the past decade. Military trial rulings are final and cannot be appealed. BM
