| The Ministry of Justice launches an investigation of three judges who spoke out against the military trials of civilians in Egypt. |
| By ET staff |
| Youssef Boutros-Ghali, former finance minister, is sentenced in absentia to 30 years in jail for profiteering and abusing state assets.6 The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is officially established as the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most prominent Islamist opposition groups that was banned from forming a political party by the Hosni Mubarak regime. Even though the FJP defines itself as a civil party, their core ideology is based on having Islam as the main source of legislation, while allowing those of different faiths to follow the teachings of their own religion when it comes to personal status law and worship. Following a string of disappointing losses by the Pharaohs, coaching legend Hassan Shehata resigns from his post as Egyptian national team coach. Shehata had previously led the team to three successive titles at the last three Africa Cup of Nations. Egypt resumes exporting natural gas to Israel after a six-week cutoff. Egypt arrests US-Israeli citizen Ilan Grapel on suspicion of spying for Israel. Salafis create Al-Nour Party as their political arm. The party’s slogan reads, ‘The only reform we desire is the reform we can achieve,’ a reflection of their main ideology of having Islam be the framework for religion and state. The party supports Article No. 2 of the Constitution which dictates that Islam is the religion of the state and Islamic law is the source for legislation. Half of the 18,000 workers who operate and service the Suez Canal go on strike protesting that promises of better wages and benefits have not been kept. The SCAF announces that 7,000 civilians have been jailed since February. All were sentenced by military courts under the nation’s martial law. The military curfew is lifted. Railway employees, dissatisfied with their bonuses, block tracks in Cairo, Ismailia, Assiut, Sohag and Aswan. Egyptian Bedouins demand equal citizenship rights, claiming they are treated as second-class citizens and are not allowed to join the army, study in police or military colleges, hold key government positions or form their own political parties. Egypt allows a humanitarian aid convoy into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Egyptians launch a Twitter campaign to fight sexual harassment, part of an online initiative encouraging Egyptians to use blogging and social media to share their experience with harassment. 22 Egypt’s military rulers post the results of a Facebook presidential poll including 15 hopefuls. Mohammed ElBaradei tops the list. The CBC (Capital Broadcasting Center, formerly Cairo Channel) satellite channel is relaunched. Helming its shows are a host of renowned journalists, some of whom had formerly been affiliated with the now-defunct NDP including Lamis El-Hadeedy and Khairy Ramadan. The channel is subsequently labeled ‘qanat el-feloul’ or ‘channel of the remnants.’ A Cairo court orders the dissolution of municipal councils across the country, all of which were previously dominated by members of the former ruling NDP. A memorial for revolution martyrs at Giza’s Balloon Theater turns violent, and as protesters move toward Tahrir Square, clashes between protesters and police leave more than 1,000 people wounded. Hundreds of army troops in armored vehicles are deployed to protect the Ministry of the Interior, as anti-government protests continue. Sharaf’s transitional government agrees to accept an International Monetary Fund (IMF) $3 billion loan package to help stabilize the country’s finances during the post-Mubarak transition period. Shortly after, Minister of Finance Samir Radwan goes back on the agreement with the IMF to accept the loan package, saying that the government would instead rely on sales of local-currency debt to finance 90 percent of its budget deficit. |
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