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EOHR welcomes decision to release Tareq al-Zomor
18/5/2004
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) welcomes the decision of the Administrative Court to release Tareq al-Zomor after the end of the prison handed down to him in 1982.
The sentence he received from a military court was not implemented.
In its judgement the Court said Tareq was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment in 1981. He should therefore have been released in 2003.
Tareq and Aboud al-Zomor and others were imprisoned for plotting the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1982.
Tareq received two prison sentences of 15 and 7 years from on two charges from the Cairo Criminal Court.
He had prior to this been tried by a military court with the result that he was tried twice for the same offence, in violation of his fundamental legal rights.
In its judgement the Administrative Court stated that since al-Zobor should have been released in 2003 when he had served out the required 22 years.
The Court refused to release Aboud al-Zomor on the grounds that he had not completed the 25 and 15-year prison sentences he received in 1982.
The al-Zomor lawyer petitioned for their release after the release of Abdallah Mohamed Salem in 1988 and Karam Mohamed Zohdy in 2003, both of whom participated with Tareq and Aboud al-Zomor in plotting Sadat's assassination.
Salem spent 7 years in prison following the sentence issued by the Abdeen Criminal Court while Zohdy received a life sentence from the Abdeen Criminal Court.
Both of them received sentences from military courts which were not implemented.
In their defence the al-Zomor lawyer cited Article 40 of the Egyptian Constitution that provides that all citizens are equal under the law in terms of duties and rights.
He also referred to Articles 490 and 43 of the Criminal Procedures Code.
The Court's verdict is in conformity with the provisions of Article 40 of the Constitution and Article 14(7) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which latter states:
No-one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country.
EOHR calls for an end to the transfer of civilians to military courts.
These exceptional courts do not permit defendants to appeal to other courts.
The safety and legality of their verdicts are not subject to review by a higher court.
The President of the Republic, acting in his capacity as head of the armed forces is responsible for confirming verdicts.
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