A court in the Delta city of Tanta is due to hear on Sunday an appeal by two lawyers against their jailing for five years over assaulting a junior judge, a ruling that incited lawyers to go on an open-ended strike. The sentence has triggered a sharp crisis between the lawyers and judges across the nation. "Security measures will be tightened inside the courtroom and in the area surrounding it, as everything is expected in this trial," said a security official in Tanta on dondition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media. He added that members of the media and lawyers other than whose names were registered in the defendants' team of lawyers would not be allowed into the courtroom. Lawyers Ehab Saa'i and Moustafa Fatouh were sentenced to five years in prison for assaulting Tanta Prosecutor Bassem Abul Roos. The lawyers have avoided appearing in courts since then, calling for the release of their colleagues. Ahmed Fathi Sorour, the Speaker of the People's Assembly (the Lower House of the Egyptian Parliament), said Saturday that the time was right for tensions between lawyers and judges to end. "I think that it's high time to iron out any differences between the two partners in justice," Sorour added.
