I attended on Wednesday the circus trial of the alleged Egyptian Canadian spy Muhammad el-Attar.
The court building was under tight siege by Mubarak’s Central Security Forces, as the trial of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders was in process, on the ground floor. The troops restricted access of families and the group’s supporters into the building, as the verdict was expected to out. And it was a rotten verdict. The judge rejected the appeal of Khairat el-Shatter and his colleagues to lift the govt’s freeze on their funds.
Khaled Salam, the editor of Ikhwan Web reminds us that the judge in that MB case, is the same Judge who sent Dr. Ayman Nour and Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim to prison.
And more news are trickling from the Tora gulag on the appalling prison conditions the Brothers are kept under:
The Muslim Brotherhood detainees in the southern Cairo prison of Tura (28 detainees) are facing harsh and poor treatment by prison administration which succumbs to the pressures of the State Security Police Service. Detainees are kept in their prison cells for 23 hours every day and get only one hour break outdoors. At least six individuals are kept in 2×3 meters prison cells. Moreover, detainees were prevented from performing the Friday Prayer during the last two weeks
As for the unsanitary conditions that these political detainees face, their cells lack toilets. Available toilets are shared by other inmates and have no doors!
On Wednesday, a small group of journalists and detainees’ relatives held a vigil in front of the Press Syndicate, denouncing the trial of civilians in military courts, and demanding the release of MB journalist Ahmad Ezzedin.
On the previous day (Tuesday), tens of doctors held a silent protest in front of Dar el-Hekma (Doctor’s Syndicate) in downtown Cairo, demanding the release of 22 of their colleagues, who were detained in Mubarak’s ongoing crackdown on the Brotherhood.
