Defiant Egyptian judges yesterday hit back at President Mohamed Mursi, demanding he reverse a decree giving himself sweeping powers that put him beyond judicial oversight and calling for a nationwide strike.
Egypt’s Judges Club, a body that represents judges throughout the country, called for “the suspension of work in all courts and prosecution administrations”, after several hours of emergency talks in response to what they called Mursi’s “ferocious attack on Egyptian justice”.
As the judges met, civil groups led by former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, and former presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabbahi, Amr Moussa and Abdelmoneim Abul Futuh, said there could be no dialogue with Mursi until he rescinded the decree.
“We refuse any dialogue with the president until he cancels the constitutional declaration,” according to a joint statement read out at a news conference.
Earlier protesters tried to storm the High Court where the judges were meeting but were dispersed when police fired tear gas.
Just a few streets away, anti-riot police had fired tear gas to disperse anti-Mursi protesters camped out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square as Western governments voiced growing concern over the political crisis.
Several judicial bodies have condemned Mursi’s decree, with the Supreme Judicial Council, denouncing it as “an unprecedented attack on the independence of the judiciary and its rulings”.
Earlier, the Judges Club of Alexandria announced a strike in the provinces of Alexandria and Beheira and said they “will accept nothing less than the cancellation of (Mursi’s decree)”, which violates the principle of separation of powers, club chief Mohamed Ezzat al-Agwa said.
The president already held both and executive and legislative powers, and his Thursday decree puts him beyond judicial oversight until a new constitution has been ratified in a referendum.
The decree also means that the panel drawing up a new constitution can no longer be touched and gives it a two-month extension until February to complete its work.
