Egypt

MP Hamzawy plans new judicial committee to retry Mubarak

Liberal MP Amr Hamzawy said on Wednesday that he is partnering with legal and political teams to prepare a draft law that would establish a judicial committee called the Right, Justice and Fairness Committee.

Hamzawy told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he is currently researching how to re-open investigations into violations committed by Mubarak’s regime with the aid of members of his Freedom Egypt Party and human rights organizations.

He added that the committee’s purpose was the “re-investigation and retrial of Mubarak and his deputies without resorting to exceptional trials or laws.”

Hamzawy, who is now visiting France and is expected to arrive in Cairo in a few days, said he would present the draft law to the People’s Assembly as soon as he returns.

The MP said that the committee is made up of legal and media figures as well as politicians with no party affiliation, and that its judicial status would allow it to re-investigate the events of the 25 January revolution and search for those responsible for the deaths of protesters.

Hamzawy said the committee would be able to force the security and sovereign authorities to provide the required information and evidence, and refer defendants to trial in special circuits within the normal judiciary system.

“Such a committee has been formed in several countries, this is not an exceptional case,” said Hamzawy. “In some countries it is described as transitional justice. It was used in Latin America and Morocco in order to deal with human rights violations in authoritarian systems without impinging on the state of law.”

Last week, Mubarak, 84, and his former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly were sentenced to life imprisonment for their role in the killing of hundreds of protesters during last year's demonstrations. The verdict has fueled anger in the streets because the judge acquitted senior security officials, a decision that “leaves police impunity intact and the victims still waiting for justice,” according to a statement by Human Rights Watch last week.
 

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