Adjournment Until October for 26 Accused of Involvement with ‘Hezbollah Cell’

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt– The trial for twenty-six Egyptians accused of forming a terrorist cell in Egypt related to Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah has been adjourned until October. According to Nile TV, the delay will grant the defendants’ lawyers more time to review the cases.

The twenty-six men include nineteen Egyptians, two Lebanese, and five people from Palestinian territories. Some of the men appeared in court on August 23 to dispute claims that the defendants were smuggling weapons between Sinai and Gaza and plotting attacks against Israeli tourists in Egypt. 

Of the twenty-six accused, only twenty-two appeared in court. The remaining four are being tried in absentia, while they are still on the run. One man who appeared in court said that he had been tortured. He also added that he had been referred for medical check after the alleged torture.

The lawyer of the twenty-two men, Montaser al Zaiat has said that the charges are “absolutely not true,” and clarified that there was “never any question in this case of a plot for the assassination of figures in Egypt.”

Family members were not permitted to attend the hearing, many relatives braced high heat standing outside the courtroom to see their loved ones. The families are upset because they haven’t seen their loved-ones in months. One prisoner was arrested in December, and his family does not know the details of the charges that precipitated his arrest. The arrests of members of the alleged Hezbollah cell began in 2008.

Hezbollah is a Shiite backed group, which is at odds with Sunni dominated Egypt. Hezbollah believes that the charges are politically motivated, and based upon Egypt’s support for the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

For more information, please see:

AFP – ‘Hezbollah’ Accused Allege Torture in Egypt Jail’ – 23 August 2009

BBC – Egypt ‘Hezbollah Cell’ on Trial – 23 August 2009

LA Times – Egypt: How Guilty are Those in ‘Hezbollah Cell’ – 23 August 2009

Xinhua – Egyptian Court Postpones Trial of Hezbollah Cell to October 24 – 23 August 2009

Author: Impunity Watch Archive