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The 21 “7 Am Girls” Sentenced to 11 Years, Another Politicization for Egyptian Judiciary

Thursday, 28 November,2013

21 Girls Sentenced In Alexandria: A New Episode in the Series of Politicization Of The Egyptian Judiciary
The Undersigned Organizations strongly condemn the ruling of the Alexandria Misdemeanor Court issued yesterday, 27 November, 2013, which punished 21 girls, 7 of which are minors, with sentences ranging from 1 to 11 years in prison, while sending the minor females to the Juvenile Detention Center. The court issued its ruling after condemning the 21 girls with the following charges: Joining the Muslim Brotherhood, which works on disrupting the rule of law in Egypt; Promotion of the aforementioned group, verbally and in writing; possession and acquisition of publications; Assembly; Show of Force and threat of violence; Disruption of Public Transportation and Destruction of Movables.

The story of the arrest of the girls goes back to the beginning of the current month, November, when the girls participated in a Human Chain on the Stanley Bridge in Alexandria, which was preceded by a march in the near-by Syria street, where the latter resulted in a quarrel between the march and the inhabitants of the area, which was contained. But the police, in arresting the girls, charged them with false accusations in relation to the quarrel, despite the absence of any proof that would suggest the girls’ involvement in the quarrel.

There is no doubt that this sentence is a new episode in the series of judicial decisions of a political nature; it reminds us of the court ruling sentencing a number of Al-Azhar University’s students to a total of 17 years in prison, for charges of various misdemeanors afflicted with fabrication and absence of evidence. Yesterday’s ruling, alongside many others, warns the Egyptian society of the dangers of the continued dependence of the judicial authority on the political situation, and its constant submission to the pressures of the ruling regime, with the erosion of the autonomy of the judiciary by virtue of a series of laws and abnormal conditions.

Despite our confidence that the Egyptian judiciary, in its higher levels, will correct the unfairness of these rulings, this will not compensate the victims for the damages they faced, and the consequences they are already bearing. In addition, this will not negate our pressing need to stop using the judiciary as an instrument of political struggles, and a weapon used against political opponents, that allows for persecuting and torturing them without any legal justification. There is no hope of creating a state of justice and rule of law, without the complete independence of the judicial authority from the executive authority. And this includes the theoretical independence, through legal texts and administrative procedures, but also the moral independence, where the judges commit themselves not to be biased in any case they are undertaking, by supporting one political group against the other.

It should be noted that this ruling and other similar ones should be addressed within the context of a state utilizing tools incompatible with justice and the rule of law and violating the rights and freedoms of the citizens, and paving the way to the restoration of the pre-February 11th, 2011 security state; all of this with the justification of fighting terrorism and combating the attempts of the Muslim Brotherhood to return to power against the popular will displayed in the mass protests of 30 June.

While history and facts confirm that the dealings of the current regime will neither deliver their announced goals, nor restore the security state that was overthrown in January 2011, never to return, these policies and procedures will only consolidate the state of social and political instability, the absence of security, and the deterioration of the living conditions of the majority of Egyptians. This calls on us to raise our voices in warning the authorities, and in demanding that the current authorities review the policies it has been undertaking, and to respond to the aspirations of the Egyptian people, as expressed in the Egyptian Revolution through its successive waves, which are summarized in the establishment of the state that protects Rights and Freedoms and upholds social justice.