Egypt’s Foreign Ministry: Judiciary Enforces Justice per Constitution, Law

The continuous and deliberate neglect by foreign entities to differentiate between sentences issued while the accused are present and sentences issued in absentia while considering the sentences to be collective against hundreds, despite repeated clarifications, in addition to describing trials concerning the deposed president and his supporters as political, even though they are concerned with criminal acts per the penal code; constitutes a deliberate attempt to distort and vilify the Egyptian judiciary. These are miserable attempts to impose visions and policies that are inconsistent with the will of the Egyptian people. Thus, as all forms of prejudice and targeting of Egypt are rejected by us, we advise these foreign parties to review policies and procedures systematically followed internally and externally that are characterized by double standards.

The claim that the sentences violate universal values and judicial standards is naught but an attack on Egypt’s experienced judiciary, which is trusted by the Egyptian people to enforce justice per the constitution and the law. It is surprising that such entities are trying to instate themselves as an authority over other societies , which reject this course and are suspicious of their motives and objectives.
The Ministry also condemns these countries’ and organizations” deliberate neglect of the fact that the accused have been sentenced through fair trials for committing criminal acts, not political ones, that include breaking into prisons, setting fire to government and police buildings , looting what the building contained (everything from weapons to documents), committing hostile and military acts, murdering over 50 prisoners and police officers, and breaking out their elements and around 20,000 prisoners from prison. Moreover, the accused have been sentenced in another case in which they are accused of espionage with foreign organizations and parties, entailing the revelation of national security secrets and coordinating with external and domestic terrorist organizations.
The Ministry would like to remind these States and organizations that the separation of powers is a core democratic principle, along with the independence of the judiciary. In this regard, it stresses the safeguards set forth by Egyptian legislation that ensure fair trials for suspects, thus guaranteeing their rights. Trials are conducted in front of normal judges, represented by the concerned criminal court and its normal head. All judicial processes are guaranteed for the suspects to ensure that they receive fair trials, per international standards and the stipulations of the Egyptian constitution and the penal code. It should be noted that the sentences issued today are not final, as the accused have the right to appeal the sentences twice in front of the Cassation Court per the legally stipulated dates.
Attached to this statement is a memo explaining the sentences and the Egyptian judicial process that are translated into English and French and distributed to clarify the matter to parties that are objective and want to know the facts as they are, without the politicized misinformation.