Verdict Postponed to NOVEMBER!

The Kefaya movement's appeal against the referendum results was scheduled for a verdict today.


The verdict has been postponed to November :(


Let me quote myself from the post that introuduced this in the first place:

LETS JUST HOPE THEY DON'T FIND SOME WAY TO WRIGGLE OUT OF THIS. I MEAN WHAT THE HELL ENOUGH ALREADY ITS LIKE A LAWLESS FARM OVER HERE.

Although I doubt it, I really hope this passes well and I feel so goddamn proud of those judges. For some reason I have this gut feeling that it won't pass well but I refuse to believe it. Actually I believe it... I just don't want to believe it. I want to believe that there is still something to be saved in this political system. I want to believe that.... Ahhh... Whatever... Anyway...

I guess it goes without saying I got a real wake-up slap in the face.

This is not a country. This is not a nation. This is a fucking farm with all kinds of semi-intelligent animals.

Let me tell you a little story about this farm in another post.

This week's To Do List

Up early today 'cause I had to drive my uncle somewhere...

Anyway here is today's To Do List before I get back to continue my sleep:

1) Get my new Personal ID in place of the one that was lost.

2) Get my voting card.

3) Call my friend to get him to come with me to get HIS voting card.

4) Call our friend to get her to come with us to get HER voting card.

5) Post about yesterday's judges' convention. Or Not.

6) Call my relative to check whether there is any update regarding my helping out in the election monitoring.

7) If no update, try to call the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights myself to see if there is any way I can enroll in the election monitoring process.

8) Make sure to get today's verdicts regarding the appeal against the referendum results and the appeal against the PEC chairman's decision to ban election monitoring in the polling stations.

9) If no hope in being part of an official election monitoring campaign, talk to my friend's friend who is a young officer to check if it is possible to be allowed permission to individually run an opinion poll inside my police station.

I'm off to sleep now... I have a few notes though..

While I am laughing in my sleep, there is Baheyya's super post regarding yesterday's judges' convention. This woman is amazing I have no idea where she got all that info but it almost seems silly to try to write a post when a perfect, flawless and superior one alreadyexists. And I feel jealous because I look like an amateaur (wrong spelling but you get it) when compared to something like that :( Hell I look like a fetus not an amateaur. Looks like I'll have a new "favourite" blog soon (besides this one ofcourse :-P ).

Also, my hopes aren't high regarding this election monitoring thing. I guess if all doors close in my face I can run a somewhat unscientific opinion poll outside the police station at my own risk. I highly doubt any of my blog's visitors know anyone who can help since I'm getting most of my traffic these days from the US of A (I have no idea who could be interested in this over there) but in any case if you have any means of help in this issue please do not hesitate to post me a comment.

Hmmmm.. I need sleep!

The Judges Have Decided

Putting aside what happened in today's demonstration, the convention of 2,500 Egyptian judges has come to the following decision regarding the judges' position on the supervision of the elections:

"The Judges Have Decided To Go Ahead With The Supervision Of The Elections"

It has therefore been decided. The judges will NOT boycott the supervision of the elections.
Here is an excerpt from an article in the Middle East Times which is similar to other sources I searched. I'm tooooooo tired, exhausted, dissappointed and ashamed of myself about what happened to give a proper summary of events so, for the time being, here is a part the METimes article:

The judges will "carry out their duty and oversee the vote" but "we will announce at the syndicate's general assembly that we will distance ourselves from the polls' results as long as our demands are not honored", he [refering to Cassation Court, Judge Mahmoud Makki] said. "We will tell the whole world that Egypt's judges will try to prevent vote rigging with all their might but that they won't vouch 100 percent for the election's transparency," he added.

Explain everything tommorrow.

Demonstration #1: Friday 2nd September 2005

STATUS: MISTIMING >:(

OK let me just tell you what the fuck happened today.......

I wake up at 10 in the morning.. the whole family is surprised to see me awake at that time...

- "You?! Awake?! Now?! What the hell happened?!"

- "Ohh! For sure a girl! That's the only thing that would move him! Going to her house ehh? Parents not at home?" (accompanied by a I-Know-What-You-Are-Doing-This-Summer wink)

I have to swear to them it's not a girl.. and then I have to assure them it's not a guy either.. and I need to point out to my uncle "No not even a rabbit"! :-/

"I just need to do something... can't tell you about it"

Before I go I call up my friend to make sure If he's coming... the fucker won't answer 'cause he knows thats the only reason I would call at this hour... Whatever.. Screw him I'm going to my first real demonstration alone..

I'm out of the house at around 10:40 am.... A bit late I guess.. I'm driving there.. but I think it would be wiser to take a cab... I have no clue where the hell the place is and the parking will most probably be an issue... Then I remember I have to stop by somehwere to get some credit for my phone - you know... just incase shit happens... I step on it and something else is bugging me at the back of my head... "No banners.. No nothing.. Would'nt look good if everyone was like that.. Nevermind.. I'll be better prepared next time"

I drive along and I see this guy selling flags on the other side of the road... For a moment I think about that.. I'm already late and I want to take this seriously.. Buying a flag for the demonstration would seem like I'm doing it for fun - you know.. just for the hell of it.. like that time when I went to the Egypt vs. Senegal match and had my face panted Black White Red when I'm not really into football that much.. It was just for the hell of it.. To get some fun out of it..

"No but this is for real.. and If everyone did what I did the demonstration would look like a blast"... With that I make a U-turn.. stop next to the guy.. "15 LE, 25 LE or 30LE??".. I needed some spare money so 30 LE was out and I couldn't tell the difference in size between the 15 and 25 LE ones.. "15 LE".. I buy the flag.. a U-turn.. and I'm off...

I don't even remotely have a clue where the Syndicate is but out of gut feeling I go down the "M. El Shaheed" ramp from the 6th October Bridge. Riot police trucks and something about "Fraudulent Elections" on one of the hung posters tell me that it must be near! It's around 11:05.. Close enough... And I think these guys are accurate in timing... I'm sure I'll hear them if I'm close... I'm sure *alot* of people are showing up...

I hear nothing... I'm afraid to ask anyone for directions lest they turn out to be police in street clothes.. I ask a taxi driver with a beard "Come after me.. this way! I'll lead you for a while and then you take the...." He gives me directions which I don't really follow because of the noisy street and it's kinda difficult to talk to a nearby car and drive and the same time and all the while looking at the guy's face and can't help thinking how really pleased he looks that I asked this question.. He has a "I-Know-Why-You-Are-Asking-And-I-Admire-It-Young-Man"
Anyway I move along and go where he told me too... I still need to ask someone because he told me to ".... go there and ask for..." I didn't hear the rest but I was assuming he meant the Syndicate. So anyway I still need to ask someone but goddamnit where are the taxi drivers when you need them. I roam around the area. "I'll definitely hear them if I'm close".

All in all it took me 40 minutes, 3 other taxis drivers, a lousy parallel park and a few metres of walking to get to the goddamn street where the Syndicate was. I had left everything in the car except my phone (in case shit happens..), 30 LE (Money goes a long way in Egypt in times of crisis although I doubted how much 30LE will go) and my driver's license (If they don't take me in because of the demonstration then it will be because of not carrying an ID so I though driver's license was safe enough). I kept the flag in the car in case it looks suspicious and they decide to take me in before I actually reach the street. It was my first street demonstration so I really don't know how this stuff works out. I will just "check the pulse" of the situation and if I decide it's safe I will go back for the flag.

11:45. The moment I entered the Syndicate's street on foot I almost peed in my pants. For the whole length of the street, both pavements were lined with soldiers : Traffic Police in white and orange, Central Security soldiers (riot police) in black, Police Officers in white and plainclothed "Mabahes" (police "investigators", although they have a more active role in the Egyptian police.. while riot police usually beat you up and control a crowd, the "Mabahes" guys blend into a crowd, gang up on you, arrest you and take you to their fun wagon, God knows what happens after that... I would rather be beat up by riot police instead) All these not including the dozen or so riot police trucks filled up with soldiers.. God knows how many are in each... Anyway so I'm walking down the street... and the whole rows of men are following me with their eyes.. I don't know if it was their suspicion of me or the red t-shirt.. "So I guess this means no flag".. I try to keep the coolest possible face.. like I'm just an innocent passer by.. If I could whistle easy I would have.. "Where the fuck is that Syndicate... Why can't I hear voices?!".. I look to my right.

"Journalists' Syndicate". I lower my head and I immediately recognize the stairs that I have seen in many of Kefaya's demonstrations. Only thing.. THERE WERE 12 PEOPLE ! >:(
12 PEOPLE AMONGST WHAT COULD BE 12,000 SOLDIERS >:( Are these the ones supporting the judges?! Fuck if some maniac officer decided he didn't want to put up with a demonstration today he could have a few hundred guys pick these kids like trash and stuff them in a truck.
TWELVE?! I counted them myself! :(

I chickened out :(

I kept moving :(

Since then and till a couple of hours ago I couldn't stop thinking whether what I did was smart or just cowardly. 12 guys... ok they are courageous... but is that really effective and smart?? Even if it wouldn't have been an effective demonstration.. would it still be classified as cowardly or as smart??

IT WAS FUCKING STUPID. Had I joined these guys, I would have known that the demonstration starts at 2PM NOT 11AM >:(

Due to a fuck-up in Kefaya's website they mentioned the wrong timing and then fixed the error but I hadn't checked the website since then :-/

I HATE THIS! >:(

Check out the pics below... These are the masses that showed up later :-/


GGRRRRRRRRRRRRR >:(

Election cases frenzy

Out of boredom I was going through an old issue of Al-Ahram dated 29th August. Page 5 had an article about the currently pending election-related court cases and their dates..

CASE 1: An appeal against the exclusion of certain applicants from election candidacy
RAISED BY: The excluded applicants :-D (like Duuh!)
WHATS THAT ABOUT?: Initially when the applicantion doors were open to those who wanted to run in the election, around 30 people (including the current candidates) applied. At a later stage the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) excluded many of the applicants from running (due to them not meeting candidacy requirements) leaving the currently remaining 10 candidates. It is worth noting that one of the excluded applicants was Talaat Al Sadaat, the nephew of former president Anwar Al Sadaat because one of the requirements to qualify for candidacy is leading a political party, while the leadership of Sadat's party is the subject of a court dispute.
CASE DATE: Verdict reserved for Saturday 3rd of Spetember 2005

CASE 2: An appeal against the allowing of certain party leaders to run in the elections
RAISED BY: I dunno. :-P
WHATS THAT ABOUT?: I have no idea. It seems to be the opposite of CASE 1.
CASE DATE: Looking into the case was postponed by the court to Saturday 17th of September.

CASE 3: An lawsuit against the chairman of the PEC to allow the Human Rights Organizations to monitor the elections
RAISED BY: several Civil Society Organizations (our term for Non-Profit Non-Government Organizations)
WHATS THAT ABOUT?: (If you read a previous post of mine you would know :-P ) Well after the chairman of the Presidential Elections Council was quoted saying "I will not allow the Civil Society Organizations to monitor the elections" the Civil Society Organizations (our term for Non-Profit Non-Government Organizations) got pissed and started a lawsuit against the chairman to allow them to monitor the elctions.
CASE DATE: Verdict reserved for Saturday 3rd September 2005.

Interesting thing is that the article did not mention the appeal against the referendum results. So I will just add it anyway :-P.

CASE 4: An appeal against the May 25 referendum results.
RAISED BY: the "Kefaya" movement (Egyptian Movement for Change)
WHATS THAT ABOUT?: Read the post. After the Judges' Club report indicating widespread fraud in the May 25 referendum, Kefaya (The Egyptian Movement for Change) has appealed against the results. A verdict inditing the results would mean that another referendum would have to be held instead and the elections would have to be postponed.
CASE DATE: Verdict reserved for Saturday 3rd September 2005.

In Your Face

Just when I thought I could free myself after a long post.... this comes along.... but I love it....

Where shall I start... Where shall I start....

Here or Here or Here ?!

OK... OK...

The meat: The Administrative Justice Court has accepted Kefaya's plea to deem false the election's referendum results based on a report compiled by judges who were heading the primary and secondary committees of the referendum.

The meat (in English): Due to the forging that took place in the May referendum results, and based on a verdict regarding a case against it scheduled to be issued on 3rd September, the whole circus-of-an-election could be a deemed invalid and be the biggest fucking joke in Egypt. I guess with that we would become the only country where April Fools Day comes in September.

The history: Ok lets take this from the beginning.....

The referendum

On 25th May a referendum was held to ask this question to the people:

"Do you agree to amend article 76 of the constitution and add a new amendment entitled article 192 based on the law parliament passed on 10 May 2005?"

with a choice of "Agree" or "Disagree". A majority of "Agree" would mean that the system of electing Egypt's president would change to allow multiple candidates to run against each - a first ever in Egypt's history. However, given (1)political apathy in Egypt and (2)the fact that almost all opposition parties and some members of the ruling party saw that the amendment made it almost impossible for opposition candidates to run and therefore called for a boycott of the referendum; the referendum results were forged.

Forging the referendum

How was it forged? (This is one time I wish I had finished translating the "Confessions of a Judge" post). Well. The way the referendum is run is that there are "primary committees" and "secondary committees" (Committee is a literal translation I'm sure there's a better word for it). The secondary committees are the actual polling stations with the ballot box and where you go and cast your "Agree" or "Disagree" vote. They should be headed by a judge. But almost all of them weren't. Primary committees are simply to preside over several "secondary committees". After the ballots have been cast, the heads of the secondary committees count the ballots and then go to the "primary committee" to report the results and hand in the ballots (I guess they hand in the ballots). Since the heads of the secondary committees were not presided over by judges, instead by humble state employees without any type of immunity, it was easy for the state authorities to threaten the employees by sacking them if a certain ratio of "Agree" to "Disagree" votes were not reported at the end of the ballot counting. In some cases a police officer would go to the polling station 15 minutes before the official end of the casting of ballots and close the committee early and overlook the forging of a few hundred "Agree" ballots and some "Disagree" ballots for show. The somewhat unorganized forging of the ballots and to a certain extent the stupidity of the employees allowed the forging to be easily exposed.

Judge's Honour

Right after the elections and for almost a month ahead, the Judges' Club received comments and complaints from the judges who were enlisted to head the primary committees and also from the very few who were presiding over secondary committees. The complaints and comments were compiled to form a detailed report regarding what happened in the referendum and what forgery had taken place. Some of the reports by the enlisted judges were even accompanied by pictures of "Agree" ballots bundled up in strings.

Kefaya takes the move

After the issueing of the report of the Judges' Club, the Kefaya (Enough) movement filed a lawsuit to the Administrative Justice Court to falsify the results of the referendum and deem them invalid based on the Judges' Club report.

The Case

In the first Court meeting for the case, the lawyers of the State Judicial Department (the government body representing the government in Court cases) argued that the Court should not accept the case on grounds that the case does not lie within the Court's jurisdiction. The Court refused the argument and accepted the case as fulfilling the initially required proceedings and lying withing the jurisdiction of the Court.

On the 22nd of August, the Court requested from the attorney to submit a copy of the original report sealed with the official stamp of the Judges' Club, since the attorney had submitted an unsealed copy.

On the 28th August, the attorney lawyers submitted the following documents:
1)A copy of the Alexandria Judges' Club report sealed with the official stamp of the Club.
2)A copy of the Club's magazine's next issue expected to be distributed on Friday the 2nd of September
3)The original report written in the hand writing of the vice-president of the Court of Cassation, Counsellor Hossam El Gheriany who also supervised the report.. as well as being sealed in the official stamp.
With this, the judge ordered the "reservation" of the case for a verdict on 3rd September.. thereby leaving no more room for pleas in the case and deciding to issue a verdict on 3rd of September.

LETS JUST HOPE THEY DON'T FIND SOME WAY TO WRIGGLE OUT OF THIS. I MEAN WHAT THE HELL ENOUGH ALREADY ITS LIKE A LAWLESS FARM OVER HERE.

Although I doubt it, I really hope this passes well and I feel so goddamn proud of those judges. For some reason I have this gut feeling that it won't pass well but I refuse to believe it. Actually I believe it... I just don't want to believe it. I want to believe that there is still something to be saved in this political system. I want to believe that.... Ahhh... Whatever... Anyway...

All information adapted from MisrAlArabia.com, Horrya Forum (Freedom Forum), AlMesryoon.com, and Kefaya's Forum. God bless the internet.

RELATED DEMONSTRATION AND CALENDAR NEWS: In a related matter, the Kefaya movement will hold a demonstration on Friday the 2nd of September in front of the Journalists' Syndicate at 11 am coinciding with the General Assembly of Egyptian Judges who will be discussing their position in the supervising of the election proceedings. Count me in baby. I will add both the demonstration as well as the Court verdict date to the calendar.