CAIRO: The Nasr City Military Court adjourned on Monday the trial some of those arrested after the storming of the Israeli embassy, to Sunday for a final verdict. Lawyers say that of the 53 facing court on Monday, some will get a final ruling Sunday while the rest were still appearing before the court by time of press. Lawyer Mohamed Abdel Aziz from Al-Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims said that the 53 defendants, arrested on Sept. 9 and 10, were charged with thuggery, attacking army officers and vandalizing public property, according to Article 375 of the Penal Code, which, he says, was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Constitutional Court in 2006. Despite this, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) modified the unconstitutional article in amendment number seven for 2011, stipulating harsher prison sentences of up to 20 years for thuggery acts. "When the military prosecution referred the defendants to military court, the referral order did not include the new amendments of Article 357, but with the old amendment that was deemed unconstitutional," Abdel Aziz said. "This means that the prosecution's referral order is invalid, which allows us to appeal the referral order," he added. The military court rejected Sunday an appeal to release 18 minors imprisoned pending investigation. Activists protested in front of the military court Monday, condemning the military trials of civilians and supporting the detainees tried in the wake of the Israeli embassy events. Families of the detainees and rights organizations claimed they were randomly arrested, and had no connection with the storming of the embassy. Meanwhile, 12 protesters arrested during clashes with military police in front of the Ministry of Defense on Sept. 30 will be interrogated for the second time in front of the military prosecution Tuesday. They are charged with using violence against military officers and vandalizing Kobri El-Kobba Metro Station. On a related note, the appeal session against the prison sentence of blogger and activist Maikel Nabil is scheduled for Tuesday, amid calls for a protest in front of C28 (the military prosecution office) where the session will take place. Nabil was sentenced to three years in prison for a blog post he wrote in March, for charges of insulting the armed forces and spreading false news. He has been on hunger strike for 43 days in protest at his maltreatment by authorities.
