[This is a collection of news updates on Egypt compiled from multiple sources by the editors.]
Amr Moussa Elected Head of Egypt`s Constitution-Drafting Body
Amr Moussa pips Sameh Ashour to the post for head of Egypt`s fifty-member constitution-writing committee, winning thirty votes over Ashour`s 16.
Former liberal-leaning presidential candidate Amr Moussa has been elected as head of Egypt`s fifty-strong constitution-drafting committee
Both Moussa–a former foreign minister–and chairman of the Syndicate of Lawyers and the Arab Nasserist Party Sameh Ashour announced they would stand for the post of chairman.
Moussa won thirty votes, compared to Ashour`s 16, whilst two members abstained and two were absent.
The panel, led by Abdel Gelil Mostafa-head of the National Association for Change-as the oldest member, convened its first session on Sunday at the headquarters of Egypt`s Shura council (upper house of parliament).
Pursuant to a presidential decree, issued by Egypt`s interim President Adly Mansour on 8 July, the charter is due to be approved within "sixty days" of the board`s first session.
Work by this constitutional-drafting board represents the second stage in writing Egypt`s new constitution, which is to replace the suspended 2012 version. This follows initial proposals made by a ten-member legal panel, which have already proved contentious.
[This article originally appeared on Ahram Online.]
Egypt`s Salafist Nour Party to Participate in Fifty-Member Constitution Committee
The Nour Party decides to participate in constitution amending process, despite `unequal representation` and likelihood that Article 219 on Islamic Sharia will be dropped.
El-Nour Party announced Sunday it will participate in the fifty-member committee responsible for producing a final draft of Egypt`s new constitution.
A statement released on the party`s official Facebook page confirmed the majority of its members had agreed to take part in process of amending the 2012 constitution.
Party Media Committee Coordinator Ibrahim Abaza told Al-Ahram Arabic website that the absence of Nour`s representative in the opening session was due to indecisiveness on whether the party would take part in the committee.
The Salafist Nour Party, the only Islamist party represented in the committee (with one delegate), has expressed its worries about unequal representation favouring non-Islamists in the constitution drafting process.
Party head Younis Makhioun said in a statement Sunday that the party`s decision to participate came "in accordance with the party`s conviction that the country is going through sensitive times and for the sake of defending the achievements accomplished after the January 25 Revolution, on top of which lies the articles [of the constitution] related to identity."
Nour had earlier considered boycotting the fifty-member committee after Article 219 was removed by a technical committee that amended the constitution before passing it to the broader body. The party later retreated, saying the issue could still be debated by the 50-member committee.
Article 219 of the 2012 constitution, added by the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly, broadly defined Sharia (Islamic law), which, according to Article 2, represents the main source of legislation in Egypt.
It states: "The principles of Islamic Sharia include its commonly accepted interpretations, its fundamental and jurisprudential rules and its widely considered sources, as stated by the schools of Sunna and Gamaa."
Non-Islamist critics charge that 219 leaves the door open to discriminating against non-Sunni minorities and others.
The Salafist Nour Party warned that eliminating this article was an attempt to move Egyptians away from their "Islamic identity."
Nour delegates constituted the second largest bloc in the now-dissolved 2012 People`s Assembly, and participated in the controversial Constituent Assembly, which drafted the 2012 constitution.
The fifty-member committee will examine amendments drawn up by a separate ten-member committee of legal experts formed in July, and will produce a final draft of the constitution within sixty days.
Interim President Adly Mansour will then put the final draft of the constitution to a national referendum within thirty days of receiving it.
The 2012 constitution was suspended as part of a roadmap put forth by the Egyptian armed forces, together with political groups and religious figures, which saw former president Mohamed Morsi ousted on 3 July following mass protests.
[This article originally appeared on Ahram Online.]
Revolutionary Socialist Leader Released
The Suez Prosecution ordered the release of a labor lawyer and leader of the Revolutionary Socialists movement, Haytham Mohamadeen, on Sunday. He had been detained since Thursday.
According to Mohamadeen’s lawyer Ramy Ghanem, he was accused of founding and running the Revolutionary Socialists movement, described in the accusation as a secret organization aimed at assaulting citizens, harming social peace, empowering one social rank over the rest of society, and disturbing the social order.
Ghanem told Mada Masr that Mohamadeen was also accused of possessing written material aimed at inciting violence, of attempting to overthrow the government through terrorist means, of inciting and participating in vandalizing state facilities, and of inciting and participating in occupying state buildings.
Ghanem described Mohamadeen’s release as a “slap in the face of National Security Agency,” as the charges against Mohamadeen should have imprisoned him and the decision to release him means the prosecution did not take into consideration the National Security Agency’s reports.
Mohamadeen was detained late on Thursday afternoon at an army checkpoint near the Suez Gates, according to the Revolutionary Socialists’ official Facebook page. His lawyer confirmed to Mada Masr that he was arrested by a police officer.
The labor lawyer was on his way to Suez to meet with workers at the time of his arrest. He was reportedly then transferred to the Attaqa police station in Suez based on charges filed by the National Security Agency.
Following his release, Mohamadeen thanked Egypt’s revolutionaries in a Facebook post, crediting them for the release of those detained.
“I am confident that oppression did not and will not terrorize us,” he wrote.
[This article originally appeared on Mada Masr.]
Brotherhood`s Badie Referred to Criminal Court for Giza Clashes
Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and fourteen others referred to criminal court for 15 July Giza clashes.
Egypt’s prosecutor-general Hesham Barakat has referred Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and fourteen others to the criminal court for alleged involvement in 15 July Giza clashes that left five dead.
Badie was referred to court along with leading Brotherhood members Mohamed El-Beltagy, Bassem Ouda and Essam El-Erian - the latter has not yet been arrested - in addition to Islamist preacher Safwat Hegazy and leading member of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya Assem Abd El-Magued, who is also still to at large, and nine others.
The prosecution accused Badie, El-Beltagy, El-Erian, Abd El-Magued and Hegazy of `inciting violence and terrorism, murder, forming a gang to attack citizens and supplying it with arms and funds.`
The remaining suspects were accused of `terrorizing, crowding, murder, joining a group that attacked citizens, damaging private property and possessing arms.`
Five were killed in Al-Bahr Al-Azam area of Giza and in the vicinity of the nearby Cairo University, during fire-fights that broke out between pro-Morsi protesters and unknown assailants late on 15 July.
Two other people were killed in the Ramses area, downtown Cairo, in similar clashes that day.
Badie, along with six other leading members of the Brotherhood, are currently on trial facing charges of allegedly `inciting murder` in clashes at the Brotherhood`s headquarters in Moqattam, Cairo, on 30 June.
Dozens of leading Brotherhood figures and hundreds of members have been arrested since security forces dispersed two large pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo on 14 August, during which hundreds were killed.
The Brotherhood, along with other Islamist groups and supporters, have been protesting the ouster of Morsi, who was deposed by the army on 3 July amid mass protests against him.
[This article originally appeared on Ahram Online.]
Egyptian Authorities Examine Morsi Family Wealth
Financial disclosure of ousted president Mohamed Morsi`s land and assets is examined by legal authorities.
A joint committee formed by Egypt`s Illicit Gains Authority-the Public Funds Investigation and Administrative Control Authority-has started to examine the financial disclosure of Egypt`s ousted president Mohamed Morsi, his wife and children, in order to make a report about the family`s wealth and assets.
The committee is expected to finish its work over the next two days.
Egypt`s prosecutor-general opened on Saturday an investigation into Morsi`s wealth, after a report was filed by the head of an anti-corruption association accusing the ousted president of taking personal advantage of his position, as well as squandering two billion Egyptian pounds (285.7 million US dollars) during his election campaign. A judicial source told Ahram Online`s Arabic gate the committee`s mission includes an inventory of the properties of the former president, his wife and children, in all of the Egyptian governorates, including land and real estate. The family`s banks accounts will also be examined, as well as shares in the stock market, if they exist. In July, Egyptian prosecutors froze the assets of fourteen prominent Islamists, including Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide and deputy leader Khairat El-Shater, as part of investigations into alleged `incitement of violence` at protests.
[This article originally appeared on Ahram Online.]