Skip to footer

Blocked by Islamist crowds, Egypt's top court suspends work

Supporters of President Morsi prevented judges Sunday from entering the courthouse where they were set to rule on the legitimacy of a disputed constitutional assembly.

|
Ahmad Hammad/AP
A demonstrator chants slogans as several thousand supporters of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi surrounded the Supreme Constitutional Court on Sunday to prevent the judges from entering and ruling on the legitimacy of the nation's Islamist-dominated constituent assembly. A ruling from the court was postponed — but regardless of which way it goes — would be a direct challenge to Morsi, who last month gave himself near absolute powers.
  • By Hamza Hendawi Associated Press

| Cairo

Egypt's top court said it was suspending its work indefinitely to protest "psychological and physical pressures" after supporters of the country's Islamist president prevented judges from entering the courthouse Sunday to rule on the legitimacy of a disputed constitutional assembly.

The court's decision is the latest turn in a worsening political crisis pitting President Mohammed Morsi and his Islamist allies against the mostly secular opposition. The standoff began when Morsi issued a package of decrees on Nov. 22 that gave him sweeping powers and extended immunity from the courts to a panel tasked with drafting a new constitution. (For more on why the draft constitution is so controversial, see our explainer.)

The Islamist-dominated panel then raced in a marathon session last week to vote on the new charter's 230 clauses without the participation of liberal and Christian members. The fast-track hearing preempted a decision expected from the court on Sunday on whether to dissolve the committee – a ruling the judges postponed on Sunday.

Morsi on Saturday announced a referendum on the draft charter for Dec. 15, despite opposition protests and questions about the document's legitimacy.

"It is the Egyptian judiciary's blackest day on record," the court said in a statement carried by the official MENA news agency, describing the scene outside the court complex, with Islamists carrying banners denouncing the tribunal and some of its judges.

Brothers: Judges are Mubarak loyalists

Supporters of Morsi, who hails from the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, claim that the court's judges are loyalists of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, who appointed them to their positions, and are trying to derail the country's transition to democratic rule.

The court statement said the judges approached the court but decided against entering the building because they feared for their safety.

"The judges of the Supreme Constitutional Court were left with no choice but to announce to the glorious people of Egypt that they cannot carry out their sacred mission in this charged atmosphere," the statement said.

The judges also were expected to rule to on the legitimacy of the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament, known as the Shura Council.

By suspending its work, the court joined the country's highest appeals court and its sister lower court in their indefinite strike to protest what they see as Morsi's infringement on the judiciary. Most judges and prosecutors in the country have been on strike for a week.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Blocked by Islamist crowds, Egypt's top court suspends work
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/1202/Blocked-by-Islamist-crowds-Egypt-s-top-court-suspends-work
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe