Political murder
One cannot remain silent on the decision of the Egyptian court that sentenced President Morsi, who was elected by 52 percent but then toppled by a coup, to death.
These decisions are examples of 21st century murders committed by the justice under the instruction of politics.
Struggle is needed for values such as democracy, rule of law and independent judiciary to develop.
There is no reaction from either the Islamic world or from the authoritarian countries against the decisions of political murder issued by courts in Egypt. Although they are not satisfactory, whatever reaction comes, they come from the West.
Justice as a political tool
The reaction of the Amnesty International is important. This is what they say:
“Condemning Mohamed Morsi to death after more grossly unfair trials shows a complete disregard for human rights. His trials were undermined even before he set foot in the courtroom. The fact that he was held for months incommunicado without judicial oversight and that he didn’t have a lawyer to represent him during the investigations makes these trials nothing but a charade based on null and void procedures.”
I underline the sentences in the statement which emphasize an independent and unbiased judiciary.
“The death penalty has become the favorite tool for the Egyptian authorities to purge the political opposition.”
One of the essential problems is the use of courts by political authorities as “favorite tools” to oppress dissident voices.
Even the detention of Morsi and his friends is the murder of justice.
The Middle Eastern Culture
Separation of powers, independent and unbiased justice, universal trial procedures...Why do they exist? They exist to prevent the abuse of the judiciary as a political tool.
Unfortunately, these values have not developed in the Middle Eastern culture. Egyptian high court and the Sheihk of al-Azhar have given their consent to the coup! Tomorrow they will not refrain from kissing the hands of another power.
Because they are all officers of the state, their reputations depend on their appreciation by the authorities.
Values like independent thought, independent institutions and separation of powers have not developed in Middle Eastern cultures. There is no point that the mufti of Egypt and the higher court will reexamine the decision on Morsi and his friends.
Two examples
When we say Arab Spring, and set aside countries like Syria, Libya and Yemen that went berserk, there are two noticeable examples: The negative one is Egypt and the positive one is Tunis.
In Egypt, Islamists and the secularists did not succeed in reaching a consensus. The Muslim Brotherhood could not agree with the secularists on the making of the constitution. The reaction of the secularists was to have fake trials and a death sentence.
In Tunis, Islamists and secularists agreed on rewriting the constitution.
As a result, democracy and stability continues in Tunis.
In Egypt, polarization and oppression continues. Three judges were killed in Sinai as a reaction to the fake court…
And two examples of judges: The so-called jugde Shaaban al-Shami who made these decisions in Egypt will take his place in the history of law as a black stain.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry who objected to the coup and defended the independence of judiciary against the elected took his well-deserved honorable place in the history of law.
