The Mansoura Felony Court passed a verdict on Monday acquitting three farmers from Bahout village in Daqahlia of rioting and setting fire to a barn owned by Farouq el-Beyali, member of the Shura Council.
Villagers celebrated the acquittal of the three–Eid Abdel Aziz Ali, Mohamed Fouad Labib and Gamil Mohamed el-Moghazy–outside the courthouse with belly dancing and joyous ululations.
The victorious farmers said that several lawsuits filed by the Beyalis against them aimed to pressurize them into giving up 65 feddans of land that they had been granted during the time of Nasser in the village of Bahout.
Mohamed Refaat, a member of the farmers’ defence team, said there were plans to file a lawsuit against el-Beyali for abusing his membership of the Shura Council and using his powers to serve his own interests. Another lawsuit will be filed to demand compensation for el-Beyali’s attempt to imprison the farmers on cooked-up charges.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
