The three men accused of attacking the president of the Judges' Club Ahmed Al-Zind were released on bail Monday. The Cairo Criminal Court ordered the release of the defendants on a bail of EGP 5,000 each. South Cairo Primary Court chairman Hani Abbas mandated Judge Mohamed El-Shahed on Sunday to investigate the charges after the previous investigative judge was recused. The defendant's lawyers demanded the previous be judge removed from the investigation claiming he refused to listen to the testimony of witnesses from their side and allowing testimonies from Al-Zind's side without informing the defence. The defendants were released on bail after they requested to appeal the decision to hold them on remand for 15 days. Al-Zind was attacked last week on his way out of the Judges' Club after a meeting to discuss the prosecutor general's decision to rescind his resignation. On his way out of the meeting, around a dozen people, three of which were arrested, assaulted Al-Zind. They threw rocks at him when he was trying to get into his car, leaving Al-Zind with an injury under his left eye. He was taken to a hospital and kept under observation. The defendants claimed they did not attack Al-Zind. They also admitted there were originally five of them chanting against Al-Zind outside the Judges' Club accusing him of pretending to be a revolutionary while in fact being a supporter of former President Hosni Mubarak. The defendants claimed they were tortured when a group of judges apprehended them after being arrested. One claimed Al-Zind pistol-whipped him while another claimed to have been electrocuted.
