But despite all of these extraordinary measures to reshape Egyptian society, Egyptians of all strands continue to fill the streets and squares to reject the coup: women and men, young and old, from the rural areas and city dwellers, students and professionals, farmers and laborers. In short, the protests are expanding not receding, while the security and economic situation is becoming intolerable.
Initially, Gen. Sisi promised his supporters in the region and the West that the country would be stable in days. Then that promise changed to weeks, and now he is asking for six to 12 months. In short, the country is in complete disarray with no end in sight. With few exceptions such as Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Authorities (all of them U.S. allies in the region, coincidence?), the world could neither openly recognize the military coup nor turn a blind eye to the daily gross human rights abuses committed by the military-backed government. For example, when Egypt's foreign minister addressed the U.N. General Assembly in September, he spoke to an empty hall, as 122 countries walked out during his speech. Meanwhile, the Organization of African Unity froze Egypt's membership and banned its participation in all its institutions until democracy is restored.
A Sham Trial With Biased Judges and Prosecutors
In short, Morsi's determination created a problem of legitimacy for the coup. He was duly elected in free and fair elections and deposed by a military general, so coup leaders thought they could delegitimize Morsi by charging him criminally.
Since his kidnapping by the military in early July, government prosecutors leveled dubious charges against him without providing any specifics, such as talking to Hamas, or committing acts of treason. Since they were not actually serious about these accusations, in the end, they chose to charge him with incitement to kill protesters near the presidential palace on the night of December 5, 2012.
But what exactly took place that night?
In the aftermath of Morsi's ill-advised constitutional decree on November 22, 2012, the opposition staged several demonstrations and called for his overthrow.
We now know that for months, former and active state security officers were plotting with the remnants of the Mubarak regime to assassinate the president that evening. Brig. Tareq Al-Gohari who was in charge of the presidential guards protecting the president, recently stated that on that day he heard several high-ranking officers boasting that that night was his last. As he gathered his troops to protect the president, several of them refused to follow directions and many simply deserted their position.
When the president was told that the police was withdrawing, he called the interior minister in charge of security officers at the time, Gen. Ahmad Gamal Eldin who declined to send any protection forces unless the president gave orders to use lethal force. According to justice Minister Judge Ahmad Makki, Morsi immediately rejected the use of live ammunition despite the threat posed by armed gangs that were throwing fire-bombs at the presidential palace and burning five presidential cars. Another group of protesters even brought a bulldozer in order to storm the gate and attack the palace.
When the MB and other groups heard of the attack on the presidential palace and the desertion of the police and presidential guards, they came by the thousands to protect the president. Violent confrontations ensued. Many MB supporters were seen tearing down the oppositions' camps near the presidential palace. Others were accused of beating and torturing their opponents. By the end of the violent chaotic night, 10 people were dead. All of the victims who were killed were on the same side of the street where the MB supporters stood. When the dust settled, out of the 10 victims, eight were members of the MB, while the remaining two were killed by simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of them, Al-Husseini Abu Dhief, was a leftist journalist known for being anti-MB. The opposition would accuse the MB of killing him although no evidence or credible witnesses were found. According to the medical examiner's office, all the bullets that killed the victims came from similar type guns and from one direction.
On that night, Morsi's supporters arrested 49 people; some of them armed, and accused them of killing the protesters. They were eventually turned over to the police. But within 24 hours, government prosecutor Mustafa Khater released all of them, citing a lack of evidence. When the accused went to trial on August 19, all of them were acquitted even though some of them had been armed when they were arrested.
Two weeks after their acquittal, Morsi and 14 other MB leaders were charged with incitement and murder for that bloody night. But according to the families of the eight victims, the real culprits were baltegies (goons and ex-felons) who were working at the behest of the security forces to commit violent acts and create chaos and terror. They further accused former interior minister Gen. Gamal Eldin of conspiracy to kill their loved ones. Morsi's co-defendants in these charges included some of his most senior presidential assistants and MB leaders such as Esam El-Erian and Mohammad El-Beltagi. Ironically, these two senior MB leaders were among the most prominent in Tahrir Square during the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak in February 2011. State security officers who were in charge of safeguarding the former regime blamed the MB for their downfall and were seething for revenge.
On November 4, Morsi was brought to the court and seen by the public for the first time since he was overthrown. The current interior minister, Gen. Mohammad Ibrahim, who has been in charge of the crackdown on the anti-coup opposition, led 20,000 police officers in an incredible show of force to surround the police academy-turned courthouse. Morsi's prosecutor was none other than Khater, the same prosecutor who freed, according to witnesses and families of the victims, the actual culprits. Remarkably, the prosecution cited in their indictment only the two non-MB victims as they dropped the other victims from their list. The families of these eight victims issued a strong statement condemning the prosecutors and absolving Morsi and the MB. They accused the state security of aiding and abetting the culprits.
With eight defendants, including the president, present at trial, none of whom were actually at the scene of the crime, the police only allowed four defense lawyers to be present in the courtroom. Citing security concerns, the police refused to allow 26 other defense lawyers, already cleared by the court to represent the defendants, from attending the trial. Furthermore, the Egyptian legal system allows the victims to also be represented by lawyers. For the two recognized non-MB victims, the court certified 300 lawyers to represent them, all of whom were allowed inside the courtroom. In addition to a handful of foreign journalists, the only local ones who were allowed to attend were those who were pro-coup. Any journalist known to be anti-coup or neutral was denied entry.
When the trial's chief judge, Ahmad Sabri, asked Morsi to identify himself and acknowledge the court, Morsi immediately declared that he was the legitimate president of the country, who was ousted by a coup. He also chastised the judge and demanded that he recognize that he has no jurisdiction over him or power to try an elected president, as it was clearly unconstitutional. In an attempt to silence Morsi, the hundreds of the pro-coup lawyers and journalists started shouting and demanding his execution and that of his co-defendants. When the judge could not regain control of the court, he adjourned the trial and postponed it until January.
Most Egyptians do not realize that both the prosecutor and the judge have deep ties to the remnants of the old Mubarak regime. They were likely chosen to exact revenge against Morsi and his group. In the past, Khater had acted as an advisor to Mubarak's last prime minister, Gen. Ahmad Shafiq, who was also Morsi's opponent in the 2012 presidential race. He was also the chief prosecutor against Mubarak. Eventually, the government's evidence was deemed so weak that his convictions were overturned, prompting revolutionary groups to accuse Khater of hiding or not presenting any real evidence. He also allowed Mubarak and his sons to pay back some of the bribes he took in exchange for dismissing the corruption charges.
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