Tried before military court MUSLIM Brotherhood members were referred to a military court over violence in Suez in August 2013 on Tuesday by a general prosecution decree. A judicial source told Al-Arabiya TV channel on Tuesday night that ousted president Mohamed Morsi “was excluded from the case due to being detained at an unknown place during the Suez events”. This is to be the first case in which Muslim Brotherhood leaders will be tried under military law. The list of 199 defendants includes leading Muslim Brotherhood figures Mohamed Al-Beltagui and Khairat Al-Shater, who are charged with inciting violence, attacking and torching public institutions and joining a terrorist organisation. The first session of the trial is set for 23 February. Following the violent dispersal by the police of two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and Giza on 14 August 2013, violence erupted in several governorates nationwide, including Suez. The dispersal of the two sit-ins had resulted in hundreds killed and injured. Morsi is currently being tried in four other cases, all in civilian courts. His charges include espionage, escape from prison during the 2011 uprising, inciting his supporters to kill protesters opposed to his rule during his time in office, and leaking documents to Qatar. In December 2013, Egypt's cabinet labelled the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails, a terrorist organisation. Pending verdict THE URGENT Matters Court in Alexandria adjourned its ruling on the lawsuit filed by lawyer Samir Sabri to designate Hamas a “terrorist organisation” to 24 February. The Cairo Court of Urgent Matters had already designated the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, “a terrorist group” on 31 January. The group was accused of “participating in terrorist operations” and recent violence in North Sinai. Relations between Egypt and Hamas have deteriorated since the Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi's ouster in June 2013. Morsi is currently standing trial on charges of espionage for Hamas. In March 2014, an Egyptian court banned the activities of Hamas inside Egypt and closed down the group's offices. Atheist convicted A STUDENT was sentenced to one year in prison by a court on Monday for contempt of religion relating to activities on campus and atheist statements online. Sherif Gaber, a 22-year-old student at the Suez Canal University, was reported by his teachers and fellow students via a petition to the chairman of the university, alleging that he had posted statements supporting atheism on Facebook, and suspecting him of being behind a page called “The Atheists”. The university's then-president Mohamed Mohameddain personally filed a legal complaint against the student to the local prosecution on the grounds of contempt of religion. Monday's verdict on the case allows Gaber to avoid the prison sentence on a bail of LE1,000. However, a retrial to take place in the coming weeks may extend the sentence to over two years. Article 2 of the Egyptian constitution, passed after the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi, states that “Islam is the religion of the State… the principles of Islamic Shari'a are the main source of legislation”. However, Article 64 maintains that “freedom of religion is absolute”. Though it is not technically illegal to profess atheism, the Egyptian government and judicial system has recently upheld the role of religion in the country by using a set of three penal codes. These include charges of “contempt of heavenly religions”, desecrating religious symbols and mocking religious rites in public, which can carry sentences of up to five years. Azhar to be restored THE PERMANENT Committee for Islamic and Coptic Antiquities approved a project for the restoration of Al-Azhar Mosque after a Saudi Arabian contracting company provided the required funding. Mustafa Amin, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the restoration work is to start next month and includes the consolidation of the mosque's foundations, the injection of soil beneath it to make it stronger, the conservation of the minaret and some decorative elements at the mosque's main building. A new set of toilets in a similar architectural style is to be provided within the mosque's wall as well. Al-Jami' Al-Azhar, meaning “the Mosque of the Most Resplendent”, was built during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Muizz li Deen Allah Al-Fatemei in 972 for the newly established royal capital of Egypt, Al-Qahira (Cairo). The mosque was previously restored in 2011 and covered the whale mosque, which is the core component – commonly known as the Fatimid Umbrella – as well as the Mamluk and the Ottoman parts. The mosque took its name from the Prophet Mohammad's daughter Fatemah Al-Zahraa. During the span of time the mosque developed into what is today the second oldest continuously run university in the world after Al-Karaouine in Ummyyad Fes. The mosque and university were neglected and its religious role declined during the Ayyubid era, when the Sunni faith was promoted, but it regained its importance as a Sunni establishment under the Mamluks, when it witnessed numerous expansions and renovations. Today Al-Azhar remains a deeply influential institution in Egyptian society and is highly revered in the Sunni Muslim world.
