Egypt’s judiciary system keeps surprising the world as it accused a former minister in the government of Dr. Hesham Qandil during the era of President Mohamed Morsi while he has been in custody since 2014.
The judicial authority in Egypt accused Dr. Mohamed Ali Bishr, the former minister of local development during the era of President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood negotiator with the regime after the military coup, of an assassination attempt of a current Egyptian official. The accident occurred two months ago, according to judicial and legal sources.
A judicial source told Anadolu Agency that the state security prosecution decided to detain Bishr for 15 days in the case known publicly by “the assassination attempt of the assistant prosecutor general.”
The judicial source said that the investigations are still ongoing and there aren’t any accurate number of defendants.
He also pointed said that the current defendants face charges that include:
– joining an organization founded against the rule of law and the constitution to disrupt the state’s institutions and prevent them from performing their work,
– the possession of explosive materials,
– the assassination attempt of the assistant prosecutor general and former Egypt’s Grand Mufti Aly Gomaa.
On September 29, a car bomb exploded in an eastern suburb of Cairo in an attempt to assassinate Zakaria Abdel Aziz, the assistant prosecutor general.
Moreover, unidentified persons reportedly opened fire on the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa near his house.
In this context, Abdel Moneim Abd al-Maksoud, the head of the defense body of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders, said, “Days ago, Dr. Bishr was waiting to be released after he spent 2 years in arbitrary detention in a case known publicly as the espionage with Norway.”
“But we were surprised that he was included in a new case, i.e. the assassination attempt of the the assistant prosecutor general that happened two months ago, while Dr. Bishr was detained in Torah prison, south Cairo.”
Abdel Maksoud added, “Bishr was summoned from detention by the state security prosecution more than a week ago to hear him on the assassination attempt of the assistant prosecutor general. He was surprised -as he was in detention during the incident- and denied such a charge completely. Today they announced that he would be detained for 15 days (pending the new ridiculous case).”
A source from Bishr defense body, said, “Bishr was more astonished when he was presented for the first time in front of the state security prosecution and he strongly denied these accusations.”
According to the source, Bishr pointed that he has nothing to do with violence, and denied again such charges during the investigations.
It is noteworthy that the assassination attempt of the assistant prosecutor general is still under investigation and it didn’t reach courts yet.
The source also added that the number of defendants has exceeded 50 and there is a probability that it will rise.
The state security prosecution rarely releases statements related to its cases. It didn’t release any clarification statement until 9 pm(GMT) about including Bishr in a case that occurred two months ago while he has been in custody since 2014.
Bishr has been detained by the Egyptian authorities for two years. He was arrested on November 20, 2014 and he was supposed to be released days ago for spending two years in prison pending the first case.
However, Bishr was not released as he was accused in a new case, and the prosecution ordered his detainment for 15 days.
Bishr joined the Muslim Brotherhood in 1979 and he gradually took various posts in the group until he was elected as a member in the guidance office (the highest executive authority of the group).
Dr. Mohamed Ali Bishr was negotiating for the Muslim Brotherhood after President Morsi, the first democratically elected civilian president, was overthrown by a military coup in 2013. Bishr had met several international envoys to discuss the political crisis in the country before he was arrested in 2014.
