From Stop the War Coalition, UK…
Press release: 7 August 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE USE
Trade union leaders, human rights campaigners denounce Egyptian “show trials”
A delegation of human rights activists and trade unionists will hand in a petition to the Egyptian embassy in London today, 7 August, calling for the release of 49 Egyptian citizens arrested in the wake of workers’ strikes and protests in the industrial city of Mahalla al-Kubra in April.
The 48 men and 1 woman are facing trial this Saturday (9 August) in the Emergency High State Security Criminal Court, which is described by Human Rights Watch as a court “where procedures violate fair trial rights”.
Human rights campaigners following the case in Egypt have told us that if convicted, they expect sentences of 6 – 10 years (although the relevant articles of the penal code allow much longer sentences including life imprisonment in some cases).Mark Serwotka, leader of the civil servants’ trade union PCS, Journalists’ Union leader Jeremy Dear and campaigning human rights lawyer Louise Christian are among the signatories to the letter which condemns the Egyptian government for using testimony extracted under torture in the case.
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Notes to editors:
Delegation to the Egyptian Embassy in London – Thursday 7th August, 4.30pm
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt, 26 South Street, London W1K 1DW
For more information contact cairoconference@stopwar.org.uk
For more information about the trial see this solidarity website organized
by campaigners in Egypt: https://abtalelmahalla.blogspot.com/ (English translation at bottom of page)
On allegations that some of the detainees have been tortured and testimonies of torture from others detained during the same events in Mahalla and since released please see this report by Human Rights Watch.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/07/18/egypt19391.htm=================================================
Solidarity with the people of Mahalla
Stop the show trial of Egyptian protestersWe the undersigned express our full solidarity with the 49 Egyptian citizens, whom the Mubarak regime has decided to prosecute in an Emergency High State Security Criminal Court, accused of involvement in the two day uprising in the Nile Delta town of Mahalla in April. On the 6th and 7th April, Mubarak’s troops occupied, Ghazl el-Mahalla, the biggest textile mill in the Middle East, home to 27,000 workers, aborting a strike announced by the independent Textile Workers’ League in protest at spiralling food prices and to demand a raise in the minimum wage which has remained stagnant since 1984.
The troops used live ammunition, tear gas, water cannons and sticks against the peaceful protesters in the town who took to the streets after the crushing of the strike. At least three were killed, and hundreds were injured and detained. The 49 detainees face a list of trumped up charges, to which some have confessed under torture. They will be tried in an exceptional court, systematically denounced by human rights watchdogs for lacking the international standards for a “safe and just trial.” We call on the Egyptian dictatorship to release them immediately.
Mark Serwotka, General Secretary, Public and Commercial Services union
(PCS), UK
Jeremy Dear, General Secretary, National Union of Journalists (NUJ), UK
Jane Loftus, President, Postal Executive, Communication Workers’ Union
(CWU), UK
Trevor Ngwane – Anti-Privatisation Forum, South Africa
Professor Alex Callinicos, King’s College, London, UK
Eamonn McCann, journalist and anti-war campaigner, Ireland
Richard Boyd-Barrett, People not Profit Alliance, Ireland
Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition, UK
Chris Nineham, Stop the War Coalition, UK
James Eaden, National Executive, University and College Union (UCU), UK
Liz Davies, Secretary, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, UK
Richard Harvey, Bureau Member, International Association of Democratic
Lawyers
Louise Christian, Human rights lawyer, Christian Khan solicitors, UK
John Rees, Cairo Conference (UK)
John McDermott UNISON NEC, UK
Rob Owen, National Union of Students, National Executive, UK
Dave Lewis, National Union of Students, National Treasurer, UK
Katie Dalton, National Union of Students, Wales, UK
Susan Nash, National Union of Students, National Executive, UK
Beth Walker, National Union of Students, Vice President, UK
Ama Uzowuru, National Union of Students, Vice President, UK
Elizabeth Somerville, National Union of Students, National Executive, UK
Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy, National Union of Students, Black Students Officer, UK
Herbert Docena, Focus on the Global South researcher, (Philippines)
Professor Colin Sparks, Westminster University, UK
Professor Gilbert Achcar, School of Oriental and African Studies, UK
Professor Claudio Katz, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Rebecca Branford, MoC, NUJ BBC White City, UK
Graham Dyer, President, UCU, School of Oriental and African Studies, UK
Donny Gluckstein, National Executive, Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS)
Penny Glover, National Executive, Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS)
Explo Nani-Kofi, African Liberation Support Campaign (ALISC)
Geoff Brown, Secretary, Manchester Trades Council, UK
Umut Kocagöz, National Executive Committee of GENÇ-SEN (Student Union of
Turkey)
Gözde Mutlucan, National Executive Committee of GENÇ-SEN (Student Union of
Turkey)
Zeliha Kabataş, National Executive Committee of GENÇ-SEN (Student
Union of Turkey)
Kıvanç Eliaçık, National Executive Committee of GENÇ-SEN
(Student Union of Turkey)
Simin Gürdal, National Executive Committee of GENÇ-SEN (Student Union of
Turkey)
Ozan Ersan (National Membership Organizer and International Officer),
GENÇ-SEN (Student Union of Turkey)
Donatella Binacardi, delegata sindacale SdL Intercategoriale, Italy
Reynaldo de Guzman, National Chairperson, Philippine Peace and Solidarity
Council
Karen Evans, University and College Union, National Executive
Karen Reissmann, Unison, Manchester Community Mental Health Branch
Jacques Bidet, Professeur émérite à l’Université de Paris-X
Sami Ramadani, Writer and academic, London
Sabah Jawad, Iraqi Democrats against the Occupation
Plataforma Aturem la Guerra (Stop the War Platform, Barcelona)
Guy Taylor, Globalise Resistance UK
Dave Barnes, National Executive, Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association
(TSSA)
And 570 other signatories. All signatures are in a personal capacity