CAIRO: Head of Lawyers Syndicate Sameh Ashour announced that above 90 percent of Egypt’s lawyers have complied with the syndicate’s call for a nationwide strike on Saturday against an increased police brutality.
On Thursday, the Syndicate called on its members to stage a nationwide strike on Saturday after a police officer has hit lawyer in the head with his shoe during an argument at Faraskur police station in Egypt’s Delta governorate of Damietta.
“Other escalatory decisions will be taken, if some police personnel did not stop their vicious attack and abuses against lawyers,” Ashour said.
Ashour has already instructed the lawyers that the strike will not be applied during the trials of imprisoned defendants or in the cases of urgent matters, adding that in case that a lawyer violates the syndicate’s decision, he would be referred to disciplinary council.
However, Lawyers in Upper Egypt’s governorate of Aswan have not followed Ashour’s instructions and resumed work in the governorate’s five courts, Al-Ahram reported.
Two lawyers in Minya governorate were referred to a disciplinary council over violating the Syndicate’s decision, Youm7 reported.
In Cairo, a number of lawyers staged a protest outside South and North Cairo courts, setting fire to photos of minister of Interior Magdy Abdel-Ghafar, raising photos of detained lawyer Mahienour el-Masry, who has been recently sentenced to a 15 months jail term over charges of attacking a police station in 2013.
Head of Lawyers Syndicate in the Delta governorate of Menoufia Khaled Rashif said all lawyers have participated in the strike although a number of lawyers have objected.
In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, dozens of lawyers staged a protest against the police assault; they chanted anti-police slogans.
