A judicial disciplinary body in Egypt has suspended 16 judges pending a probe on their affiliation to a group with alleged links to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Reuters’ Aswat Masriya reported on Sunday
The Judges Disciplinary Council accuses the judges of joining the Judges for Egypt movement and working in politics along with dozens of others, a violation of Egypt’s judicial law.
Judges for Egypt is a group of Egyptian reformist judges who helped monitor the 2012 elections that brought deposed president Mohamed Morsi into power. The group has been accused of being affiliated with the Brotherhood.
The group was the first to announce Morsi’s victory in the 2012 presidential poll, a day before official results were released by the country’s electoral committee. Authorities also say they organised press conferences to support a controversial constitutional declaration issued by Morsi while in power to give himself supremacy over the judiciary.
Following Morsi’s ouster last July, the group boycotted a January constitutional referendum held by interim authorities as part of their transitional roadmap.
The suspension on Sunday is the latest in a succession of disciplinary measures taken by authorities against perceived pro-Morsi judges, which have deemed “political reprisal” against Morsi’s Islamist group and its sympathisers.
Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, was ousted by the military last summer on the back of massive protests against his year-long rule.
Authorities have since mounted a harsh crackdown on his Islamist supporters that has killed hundreds and jailed thousands of others.
Source : Ahram online
