Egypt

Witnesses useless in Hizbullah cell case, says defense

The trial of an alleged Hizbullah cell in Egypt has been postponed until Tuesday as lawyers defending suspects say that they are not interested in hearing witness testimonies because "they are going to repeat what they said in the investigations.

Meanwhile, the State Security Court in which the suspects are being tried, prevented photographers from entering the court room and warned against taking photos of the witnesses "for security reasons."

Essam Sultan, one of the defense lawyers, said the court didn’t need to hear the testimonies of the witnesses because "they will repeat what they said in the investigations."

"Their testimonies won’t help at all, because most [witnesses] are the police officers who conducted the investigations," Sultan said.

The prosecutor presented a detailed medical report on the condition of Ehab el-Sayed, one of the suspects in the case. The report said el-Sayed’s condition was stable and that he is currently at the prison hospital. Three other suspects were referred to specialized physicians outside the prison hospital.

In July Attorney General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud referred 26 suspects to trial in the Supreme State Security Court, including 18 Egyptians, five Palestinians, two Lebanese citizens, and one Sudanese citizens. They were accused of spying for the Lebanese Shia group, and plotting attacks on the Suez Canal and tourist sites in Egypt.

Translated from the Arabic Edition.

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