Update: 2-7 years for civilians in first of three military trials

A military court has sentenced a university student to two years in prison and eight others to seven years for belonging to a terrorist organisation. The verdict is the first of three expected verdicts on Thursday implicating at least 24 civilians in violence-related charges, according to statements by rights groups.

The verdict pertains to the trial of seven students and a professor from Mansoura University, who were all arrested on campus in October 30, 2014. The defendants were convicted on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization, according to the Your Jail is Freedom campaign, as well as accusations of rioting, violence, illegal protesting and destroying the university’s administrative building. The case was referred to a military court on January 6 after a civilian prosecution team carried out investigations.

Student Heba Qeshta received a sentence of two years in prison, while fellow students Yehia Akl, Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim, Adel Abdel Latif, Youssef al-Sayed, Mohamed Mostafa, Abdel Rahman Shohaib, along with chemistry professor Mohamed Abdel Khalek, were sentenced to seven years each.

The campaign claims that the defendants were subject to torture and other abuses while in detention. Qeshta was allegedly beaten and verbally abused at the Menyat al-Nasr Police Station in the northern Daqahlia governorate. Security forces also reportedly assaulted the rest of the defendants at the same police station on April 13.

While in detention, Qeshta was held in a small prison cell with over 20 other women, with her personal belongings confiscated. Abdel Khalek was reportedly denied access to proper medical care, even though he has liver problems.

The No to Military Trials campaign said that the defendants' referral to court is based on a presidential decree passed on October 27 concerning the security of state institutions. The decree left a wide range of state institutions and establishments, including universities, under the mandate of military authorities. Various human rights organizations slammed the decree for unprecedentedly expanding the powers of the military judiciary, threatening the right of civilians to free and fair trials.

Egypt’s Constitution opened the door for expanding the powers of the military judiciary over civilians when it legalized military trials of civilians in cases where military establishments are attacked. Considering civilian institutions as military establishments in these instances poses a serious constitutional violation, according to critics of the decree.

No to Military Trials launched an online campaign on Wednesday coinciding with Thursday’s expected court verdict, urging citizens to blog about the case to raise awareness of the rights of the students to receive a fair trial.

The second case, in which a verdict is still pending, is also in Daqahlia and includes three civilians from one family. Law student Abdallah al-Tahawy, as well as his father and cousin, all face charges of belonging to a terrorist organization and other violence and protest-related charges. Your Jail is Freedom claims that the civilians were all forcibly disappeared on December 7 following their arrest.

Their families found out that they were allegedly tortured in the Dakarnas Police Station for three days before being forced to confess to the charges levied against them.

The third and final case awaiting sentencing involves another group of students who were forcibly disappeared from the city of Talkha in Daqahlia in December. They were also allegedly subject to torture at the Talkha Police Station and forced to confess.

Mokhtar Mounir, a lawyer specialized in academic freedoms at the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), explained to Mada Masr that the presidential decree is unconstitutional.

The constitutional legalization of military trials of civilians, according to Mounir, had limited the powers of the military judiciary to crimes committed in or against military establishments. Expanding the definition of military establishments to include civilian institutions, like universities, is a clear violation to the Constitution, he asserted.

Mounir referenced cases where he represented students accused of violence-related charges five months before the decree was issued. The decree was applied retroactively and the defendants were referred to a military trial and sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment.

"This decision has transformed universities to military barricades. It is an indication of the dominance of the military state that aims at suppressing the student movement," he added.

A report by the National Community of Human Rights and Law published in January this year specified 12 areas of military court jurisdiction. While most of these areas concern military personnel, cases legalized by the Constitution, according to the report, could easily land civilians in military courts.

The report broke down these circumstances into 12 points. According to the report, eight stipulations are personal in nature, whereby people are sent to military court based on criteria such as their professions. Another two stipulations are based on the place of arrest, while another two relate to the type of crime that is being prosecuted.

Crimes committed by civilians inside or against military establishments are tried by military courts. These establishments include military camps, military barracks, military institutions, military factories, military ships, military planes, military vehicles, military spaces or military shops. Anti-military trial campaigners said that a scuffle between a soldier and a citizen in the military owned Al-Wataneya gas station could land a civilian in military court.

“In application of these conditions, Egypt’s borders and buildings, factories and companies, roads and transportation have all turned into a military space where access or photography is prohibited, and even talking about it is forbidden, except by members of the military authority,” the report asserted. “Otherwise, as a civilian, you are subject to a military trial.”