PressTV.ir
Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:59AM GMT
Egyptian demonstrators clash with the police in central Cairo (file photo).
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has ordered the release of 572 people detained by the Army since last year’s revolution.
Morsi, who took office last month as Egypt's first elected civilian president, on Thursday ordered military courts to grant amnesty to the defendants, AFP reported.
The Egyptian president earlier set up a committee to examine the cases of civilians put on trial by the military. The committee says 11,879 Egyptians were detained by the military throughout out the uprising that ousted former dictator Hosni Mubarak. Out of them, 9,714 have since been released.
Human rights activists and bodies have unanimously called for the end of military trials of civilians.
"International law is crystal clear on this: No civilian, regardless of the crime, should be tried by a military court," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said this week.
"Military trials and arrests of civilians by the military have continued, despite the June 30 handover to civilian authority," the HRW noted.
Sworn in on June 30, Morsi is locked in a power struggle with the powerful Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
Last week, Egyptians thronged the iconic Tahrir Square in Cairo to express solidarity with Morsi over his decree to reconvene parliament.
The parliament, dominated by Muslim Brotherhood lawmakers, was dissolved in line with a ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court, based on a decision by the military, prior to the presidential elections.
KA/HN
Source: PressTV.ir
