Female Coptic lawyer gets 6 months imprisonment and 3000 pound fine after being assaulted by Islamist lawyers because she said "I complain to the Atorney-General".
The case is a testimony to bias of the Egyptian police and judiciary against Christians.
In another battle to obtain justice by the 25-year old female Coptic lawyer against the Muslim Brotherhood infested police, lawyers and judges in Abu-Korkas, Upper Egypt, Lawyer Mervet Ragy was handed an unfair 6 months prison sentence and a bail of £3000. She was charged with insulting the prosecutor during her court case by saying "I will complain to the Attorney General” for being treated unfairly.
The facts of the case goes back to March 24, 2008 when Mervat and her mother, were falsely accused of bodily assaulting a girl called Basma Metwalli. Prosecutor Mohanad threatened Mervat to issue a warrant to force her and her mother to appear before court, on the evening of that same day, if both did not willingly attend, although this procedure is only reserved for felonies.
Mervat went with her mother that evening, to find another surprise awaiting her by the prosecution. Prosecutor Mohanad forced her to have a lawyer accompany them, according to Article 124 of procedures, although this article was canceled a long time before. She argued that she would give up her right for the presence of counsel, and being a lawyer, she would represent herself. However, the prosecutor insisted on the implementation of a canceled Article, as a matter of procrastination to the investigation.
Due to his demeaning and threatening behavior, Mervat sent on March 25, 2008, a petition to the Attorney General, to which the Prosecutor surprised her on March 29 by submitting a memorandum against her for insulting him by saying: "I will complain to the Attorney General".
He also reported that she allegedly insulted him, in the corridors of the building, by saying: "You should get a Muslim Brotherhood lawyer to help you in writing the report", and "all lawyers in Menya belong to the Muslim Brotherhood". Mervet was charged with a misdemeanor case for contempt of a public officer while performing his duty.
Lawyer Mervet refuted his allegations, besides the investigations carried out confirmed that it could not reach a conclusion to back the truthfulness of the prosecutor's claims. She added that it is not a crime to say that she would report him to the Attorney General, as it is the right of any citizen to file complaints with the Attorney General.
However, judge Hatem Ghazoli, President of the divisional Court in Abu-Korkas, handed her the maximum penalty of 6 months imprisonment, despite the triviality of the offense, besides ignoring the second part of the sentence, which should be a monetary fine of £200 and replaced it with a bail of 3000 Egyptian Pounds, knowing that without first paying this huge bail sum, she would be unable, under the law, to make an appeal.
Outspoken Mervat Nagy commented that judge Ghazoli has a lot of activities among lawyers representing the Muslim Brotherhood, where they pray together every afternoon, and he also makes speeches to them, including those detrimental to her reputation, resulting in previous abuses commited against her by some of them.
Mervat confirmed that she has sent several complaints against the judge in question to the Egyptian President, the Attorney General, Minister of Justice and Interior Minister accusing him of collusion with the Muslim Brotherhood lawyers to issue this rule against her, which is exaggerated and not commensurate with the seriousness of her charge, which was fabricated by the prosecutor.
It is worth noting that Ms. Ragy was assaulted twice on Thursday 22nd January 2009, one attack in the morning, and the second in the evening, while she was on her way to complete the investigations of the morning assault.
She was intercepted behind the court building by two Muslim brotherhood lawyers who assaulted her, and tore her clothes off. She was left unconscious during which her personal ID was stolen, and was later transported to hospital.
Instead of being intimidated by the previous attacks, young lawyer Mervet Ragy went public unveiling the facts of the attacks on her, and exposing the collusion between the police and the Muslim Brotherhood lawyers.
We alert the Egyptian police and the Egyptian judiciary to their obligation to treat all citizens equally and we also remind the Egyptian government of its duty to weed out the fundamentalists elements which have infested police and judiciary.
Source of the news Coptreal.