Egypt judge in mass death sentence cases removed
4 Oct 2014 5:40 AM IST
Judge Said Youssef, who led two high profile cases in southern city of Minya, told the AP he was notified on Sunday that he was removed from ‘criminal judiciary’ to ‘civilian judiciary.’ ‘I was notified while I was looking into cases,’ Youssef said. He added that his court, known as the ‘terrorism court’ and assigned to look into cases linked to violence and acts of terror, had been ‘dismantled.’ He declined to discuss why he was removed.Youssef’s court appeared to be the only one dismantled.
The move looks like a demotion for Youssef. According to the el-Shorouk daily newspaper, removal from the court is an exceptional measure which only takes place in two cases: either the judge has been associated to an act that is damaging to his reputation or that he was investigated by a special committee which ruled that he was no longer capable of overseeing criminal court cases. Normally, a judge who has spent 15 years in criminal judiciary remains in his post until retirement. Other officials, including a top judicial official, corroborated Youssef’s account.
The move looks like a demotion for Youssef. According to the el-Shorouk daily newspaper, removal from the court is an exceptional measure which only takes place in two cases: either the judge has been associated to an act that is damaging to his reputation or that he was investigated by a special committee which ruled that he was no longer capable of overseeing criminal court cases. Normally, a judge who has spent 15 years in criminal judiciary remains in his post until retirement. Other officials, including a top judicial official, corroborated Youssef’s account.
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