No Military Trials for Civilians group released a statement on Thursday noting that at least 1,101 have been detained awaiting military trials. The group, established to fight trialing civilians in front of military courts, stated that Article 19 of the latest constitutional declaration issued by interim president Adly Mansour gave the military judiciary absolute power in all cases concerning the military without protecting civilians from being tried at military courts. "No military trials group stresses that if this article is not amended, we are at the risk of facing the same catastrophic situation we faced during the armed forces rule; depriving civilians of their right to regular trials," the statement read. The group called on Mansour to immediately release those who were pardoned by former president Mohamed Morsi as well as to look into the 1,101 cases who were not pardoned, bearing in mind that they include children and the chronically ill. They called on Mansour to review the files of those being held for military trials and to apologise to them on behalf of the state, promising to pursue legal action those who committed violations against detainees. "The state should offer a suitable financial or moral compensation to victims of military trials… and prevent the return of trying civilians in front of military judiciary especially with the current political situation and the deployment of the army in the country," the statement read. No military trials demanded the amendment of Article 198 of the constitution regarding the military judiciary, and suggested restoring Article 63, which was removed in the final draft of the constitution and had prohibited trying civilians in front of a military judiciary. "Fair trials in front of a natural civilian judge are the only way to the truth and to justice," the statement read.
