Douma's ‘Cabinet incidents case’ delayed to March 21

CAIRO – 19 March 2018: South Cairo Criminal Court delayed political activist Ahmed Douma’s "Cabinet incidents case" to March 21 on Monday to unseal the exhibits of the case.

Three years after political activist Douma had been sentenced to life imprisonment in what was commonly known as the "Cabinet incidents case" that took place in December 2011, the court had overturned his life sentence in October 2017 and ordered his retrial.

In December 2011, security forces dispersed a three-week sit-in at the Cabinet building, which caused clashes in the area surrounding the Cabinet and Shura Council and led to the burning of the Scientific Institute.

Douma, a member of the Youth for Justice and Freedom movement, which played a key role in the 2011 uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak, and 268 other defendants were convicted of the following charges: attacking the Cabinet building, security personnel and the Scientific Institute; protesting; possessing weapons and Molotov cocktails; and assaulting members of the armed forces and police.

Consequently, he was handed a life sentence and a LE 17 million (roughly $2 million at the time) fine in February 2015.

Upon hearing the verdict, Douma clapped his hands, saying that he was happy with the verdict. Hence, the judge sentenced him to three more years in prison.

He also received a three-year sentence in two separate cases; the first for staging protests in January 2015 without a permit and violating Egypt’s protest law, and the second for insulting and criticizing the judiciary in 2014.

During his trial in December 2014, Douma accused the judge presiding over his case of publishing extreme political views on his Facebook account, violating the law that bans judges from publicly expressing political views. He was thus handed three years in prison and a fine of LE 10,000.

Douma was one of 231 defendants who were sentenced to life; however, he is the only one who appealed the sentence.

He also appealed against the three-year sentence he received for insulting the judiciary.

On January 3, 2018, Douma denied all charges. On February 18, the court showed a video proving that he burned public premises, including the headquarters of the Cabinet, Parliament, Shura Council, and Ministry of Interior.