The Supreme Constitutional Court said the presidency aimed to “undermine the reputation of this court internationally.” (DNE/ Hassan Ibrahim) The Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) has claimed that a statement released by the president's assistant to foreign media “contains many falsehoods and inaccuracies." The SCC released a statement on Monday in response to a statement released by Essam Al-Haddad, the assistant to the president on foreign relations, which was published on Friday. The statement, entitled President Morsy's Road Map to an Inclusive Representative Democracy, outlined the reasons behind President Mohamed Morsy's decisions since he was elected president. Al-Haddad's statement referred to the SCC three times and the court took issue to each mention. The SCC said the presidency aimed to “undermine the reputation of this court internationally... without giving one piece of truthful evidence to support his allegations and claims." The first reference was to the SCC's role in dissolving the parliament, which the presidency's statement described as “dubious." The second reference labelled the SCC as an “anti-revolutionary force" when it appeared that there were “signals from a number of quarters that the SCC will dissolve the [Constituent Assembly]." The third reference said Morsy's constitutional declaration aimed to “facilitate consensus by immunising these decisions from intervention by the SCC." The SCC called on the presidency to “give evidence to prove involvement of judges in a plot to overthrow the institutions of the state." Presidential spokesperson Yasser Ali said on Monday that the presidency had not received any information regarding the SCC statement and would respond after speaking to Al-Haddad and clarify the situation, according to state-owned news agency MENA. It continued, “the false and malicious rumours weaken the confidence and dignity and honour of the state and harm the national interests of the country." It added that the statement “is a criminal act falling in with crimes harmful to the security of the government from abroad if the statement is proved to be true." This was the latest episode in an ongoing struggle between Morsy and the SCC, which began when Morsy attempted to reinstate parliament and escalated most recently with Morsy's constitutional declaration which took away much of the courts power. On Sunday the judges of the SCC were prevented from entering the court due to pro-Morsy supporters blocking them for a second time in a fortnight. The SCC said, “the statement from the president's assistant revealed the intentional determination to continue the series of abuse, insult and slander on the [SCC]."
