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Egypt to try 26 Hezbollah-linked terror suspects in special state security court

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Twenty-six men suspected both of plotting numerous attacks in Egypt and of having links to Hezbollah were transferred Sunday to an emergency state court that deals specifically with terrorism and state security. Four of the men remain at large, among them group leader Mohammed Qubyan. In April, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah claimed that one of those detained, Mohammed Yusef Mansur, was a Hezbollah agent tasked with smuggling weapons into Palestine. In February, Egypt made notable use of its emergency laws and courts when it sentenced opposition leader Magdy Ahmed Hussein to two years in prison following a trial carried out under the laws that have been in effect since the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and were renewed in May 2008. Human Rights Watch sharply criticized the renewal, saying the move showed "contempt for the rule of law." Egypt has used security courts extensively against members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on July 26, 2009 (boomark / email).