Maghreb Edition

Egypt: Under pressure from striking lawyers, regime releases jailed attorneysF

Posted On 23 January 2023

Number of times this article was read : 1098
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Members of the Egyptian Bar Association on Sunday called off a days-long strike held in protest against the jailing of six colleagues, a statement said. The association had announced Thursday an open-ended strike to condemn their colleagues’ sentencing to two years in jail over a court brawl earlier this month. The bar association decided “to cancel the suspension of work”, it said in the statement.

The move came after an appeals court on Sunday ordered the six be released and scheduled a verdict for February 5.  The lawyers had been sentenced on Wednesday for their part in the fight with three clerks during a court session in Marsa Matrouh on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast on January 5, according to state-run daily Al-Ahram.

The association had earlier claimed there was “a clear intention” by authorities to keep the six lawyers in detention “without real justification”,  denouncing a “rush to bring them to trial without taking the time to carry out a real investigation”.

Last month, in a rare display of dissent in a country where public demonstrations are banned, thousands of lawyers demonstrated in Cairo against the government’s introduction of a new electronic invoicing system.

AFP

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The North Africa Journal is a leading English-language publication focused on North Africa. The Journal covers primarily the Maghreb region and expands its general coverage to the Sahel, Egypt, and beyond, when events in those regions affect the broader North Africa geography. The Journal does not have any affiliation with any institution and has been independent since its founding in 1996. Our position is to always bring our best analysis of events affecting the region, and remain as neutral as humanly possible. Our coverage is not limited to one single topic, but ranges from economic and political affairs, to security, defense, social and environmental issues. We rely on our full staff analysts and editors to bring you best-in-class analysis. We also work with sister company MEA Risk LLC, to leverage the presence on the ground of a solid network of contributors and experts. Information on MEA Risk can be found at www.MEA-Risk.com.