In a new development in the crisis pitting lawyers against judges in the aftermath of a court verdict sentencing two lawyers to five years in prison for assaulting the chief prosecutor in Tanta, the Judicial Council has declared its solidarity with members of the judiciary against “acts of intimidation and terror.”
In a statement issued yesterday, the council called recent events “unfortunate” and condemned lawyers’ “use of violence and destruction of public property.” The statement concluded by calling on lawyers to end the crisis, which, it noted, served to threaten “social values” and “public order.”
The Egyptian Judges Club convened an emergency meeting on Sunday evening to discuss the matter, in which it declined to adopt further “escalatory measures.” Club Chairman Ahmad el-Zind stated that a small group of “irresponsible individuals” was behind the crisis, who bore no relation to Egyptian lawyers in general and their “esteemed profession.”
Lawyers, meanwhile, have maintained their ongoing labor strike, threatening to stage a protest march from the Lawyers Syndicate premises in downtown Cairo to the presidential headquarters. In a statement given to Al-Masry Al-Youm, syndicate head Hamdi Khalifa called on President Hosni Mubarak to intervene to resolve the crisis, stating that lawyers should be granted immunity to allow them to practice their profession without discrimination from judges.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
