Human Rights Watch in Egypt? No, thanks

A group of Egyptian judges that has been pushing for more judicial independence said yesterday it had cancelled a meeting with a visiting Human Rights Watch delegation because of government pressure.

The board of the Judges’ Club, whose members have openly criticised abuses in last year’s parliamentary elections, had been due to meet the rights group tomorrow.


Judges’ Club President Zakaria Abdel Aziz said Justice Minister Mahmoud Aboul Leil had told him the government did not want the meeting to take place.

“The justice minister stated the government’s desire that this meeting not take place,” Abdel Aziz said. A government spokesman had no comment.
continues here ikhwanWeb.com

Those following the Egyptian Judges’ Club’s battles with the state might be interested to hear about similar problems in another North-african State, Tunisia, where two judges, who have campaigned for the independence of the judiciary, have had their salaries suspended for two months. The Tunisian government previously locked judges from the Tunisian Association of Magistrates out of their offices for issuing a statement in support of judicial independence after the government tried to muscle irritating judges out of the organization.
source: ikhwanWeb.com