CAIRO: The opposition independent Al-Dostour daily newspaper published on Sunday an advertisement from the Muslim Brotherhood's (MB) supreme guide, Mohamed Mahdy Akef, denouncing the trial of civilians in military courts. The ad was dedicated to the movement's chief financier Khayrat El-Shater, who was arrested with 33 other MB members in December 2006. The ad coincided with one of the military court hearings in the case. This is not the first time the Brotherhood has openly appeared in the media, Mahmoud Ezzat, Brotherhood secretary general told The Daily Star Egypt. The supreme guide appears on talk shows broadcast on satellite channels talking about different issues and explaining the Brotherhood s position, Ezzat added. And why shouldn't we be able to comment and appear publicly, Ezzat said, adding we're not the ones who drowned ferries or stole money from banks and ran away. He was referring to several highly publicized scandals committed by Egyptian businessmen who are not related to the group. Ambassador Mahmoud Shokry, writer and political analyst, told The Daily Star Egypt that the Brotherhood s ad is not strange or new because they voice their opinions on all matters everywhere, but the question is, he says, why did Al-Dostour publish it? My answer is that Al-Dostour is a newspaper whose raison d'etre is to criticize the Egyptian government, Shokry said. Sources at Al-Dostour told The Daily Star Egypt that there is no legal offense in publishing such an advertisement. On the other hand, Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah, a National Democratic Party (NDP) member of parliament, told The Daily Star Egypt that Al-Dostour is a newspaper that "is a mouthpiece for the Muslim Brotherhood and is not an official newspaper. They usually refer to People's Assembly members affiliated with the Brotherhood and refuse to interview members of the NDP, Kwaitah added, stressing that the Brotherhood is an illegal group and no newspaper should publish news about them. The Brotherhood cannot publish anything in Al Ahram, Al Akhbar or Al Gomhuria [national press] daily newspapers because these are respectable papers that be making an illegal mistake [by] printing news from an outlawed group, Kwaitah said. As for the content of the ad, Ezzat indicated that Egyptians feel they are treated unfairly. Shokry also denounced the fact that civilians are tried in military courts, which he described as illegal. Both local and international human rights groups have criticized the Egyptian government for trying civilians before military courts, a practice the groups argue is harsh, results in unfair verdicts, and does not allow for an appeal other than asking the president for clemency. But military tribunals may become commonplace in the Egyptian legal system following a series of amendments to the constitution in March, which will allow the president to refer civilians to military courts as part of planned anti-terror legislation.
