Egyptian activist Douma, 229 defendants receive life sentence - المؤبد لأحمد دومة و229آخرين وإلزامهم بدفع 17مليون جنيه بقضية مجلس الوزراء

قضت محكمة جنايات القاهرة،برئاسة المستشار محمد ناجى شحاتة والمنعقدة بمعهد أمناء الشرطة بطرة، بالسجن المؤبد على الناشط السياسي، أحمد دومة، و229 متهما آخرين، وإلزامهم بدفع 17 مليون جنيه تعويض للدولة فى القضية المعروفة إعلاميا بـ"أحداث مجلس الوزراء". 

وحضر المحامى المنتدب من نقابة المحامين مع المتهم الاول "أحمد دومة" بالرغم من تحذير نقابة المحامين الحضور مع المتهم بعد إحالة أكثر من محامى فى القضية لمجلس التاديب . 

وترافع دومة عن نفسه بجلسة اليوم قائلا ان الدفاع قدم عدة بلاغات ضد قيادات وافراد الشرطة واتهمنا مجموعة تواجدت أعلى اسطح العمارات وقت الاشتباكات يرتدون زيا عسكرى وأخرين يرتدون نفس زى افراد الشرطة، ولم يتم التحقيق معهم. 

وأضاف دومة ان هناك عدد كبير من المواطنين قاموا بتصوير هولاء الاشخاص وقت الاحداث، وساله القاضى هل حرقت المجمع العلمى، فاجاب دومة لا استطيع ان اقول من احرق المجمع العلمى ولكنى لم احرقه. 

ودفع المحامى بعدة دفوع قانونية ومنها بطلان التحقيقات وانتفاء الركن الجنائى لدى المتهم ودفع بالا وجهة لاقامة الدعوى الجنائية ولا صحة لاقامتها بمجرد نشرها على الهواء واقصد الحوار مع وائل الابراشى. 

وأسندت النيابة للمتهمين عددا من التهم، منها التجمهر، وحيازة أسلحة بيضاء، ومولوتوف والتعدي على أفراد من القوات المسلحة والشرطة، وحرق المجمع العلمي والاعتداء على مبان حكومية أخرى، منها مقر مجلس الوزراء ومجلس الشعب.

The defendants, accused of violent acts in December 2011, were also fined LE17 million; 39 minors receive 10 years in jail

Egyptian activist Ahmed Douma

Cairo Criminal Court sentenced well-known Egyptian activist Ahmed Douma and another 229 defendants to life-in-prison on Wednesday and fined them all LE17 million (US$2.2 million) for involvement in the December 2011 cabinet clashes case.

A life-in-prison verdict carries a sentence of 25 years in jail according to the Egyptian penal code.

Some 39 other minors were sentenced to ten years in prison in the same case.

All defendants can appeal against the verdicts.

Douma, along with 269 defendants, were accused of possessing bladed weapons and Molotov cocktails, assaulting personnel from the armed forces and the police, torching the Scientific Complex in downtown Cairo and damaging other governmental buildings, including that of the cabinet and the parliament.

Clashes erupted near the Cabinet close to Tahrir Square, the focal point of the 2011 uprising, when a sit-in was forcibly dispersed by security personnel, sparking clashes between protesters and army and police forces.

Douma has been a long-time rights activist who protested against the regime of toppled president Hosni Mubarak, the military council in 2011-2012 as well as ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. He is already serving time in prison.

Upon hearing the verdict, Douma clapped his hands in what seemed to be an attempt to protest the sentence in a sarcastic way, sparking an exchange with the presiding judge, who threatened him with an additional three-year prison sentence for court contempt.  

In an earlier session of the same court in December, Douma was sentenced to three years in jail and a fine of LE10,000 for contempt of court after an argument ensued between himself and judge Nagy Shehata, head of the Cairo Criminal Court handling the case. 

The Judge became apparently incensed by a question by Douma on whether he maintained a Facebook account.

Social media users have recently charged that Shehata once maintained a Facebook account in which he openly aired political views denouncing activists and figures from the 2011 uprising as a sign of impartiality against Douma and other defendants.

In Wednesday’s session, Douma defended himself, saying he had filed legal complaints charging that groups of individuals wearing military and police uniforms and stationed on top of buildings around the cabinet at the time of the clashes were responsible for the violence, but they were never questioned.

Douma also denied setting fire to the Scientific Complex south of the cabinet headquarters.

Douma is also serving three years in prison along with well-known 6 of April activists Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel, for organising an unauthorised protest and assaulting security personnel over a year ago.

A protest law, which was passed by the interim government after the July 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, stipulates that demonstrations must be authorised by the police in advance.