Monday, January 25, 2016

The ruling in the case known as the "Marriott Cell" involving Al Jazeera journalists

Part of my translation in cooperation with another translator from Arabic into English of the ruling in "Marriott Cell" case of Al Jazeera journalists  who were accused of defaming Egypt and spreading false news. 

p.s the following translation has nothing to do with my political views or my opinion.

In The Name of the People
Cairo Criminal Court

Formed openly under the presidency of Counselor/ Hassan Mahmoud Farid "Court president"
And the membership of Essam Abou Elela and Fathi Abd El-Hamid Elruwaini "Chiefs Justice of Cairo Criminal Court"
In the presence of Mr. Moaied Abdullatif Zidane     "Prosecuting attorney"
And in the presence of Mr. Ayman Alqady                           "Secretary"
The following judgment was given

In the case # 1145 for the year 2014 Qasr El Nil Felonies
Registered under # 12 for the year 2014 (full jurisdiction) Middle Cairo

AGAINST
1-                  Mohamed Mahmoud Fadel Fahmy
2-                  Baher Mohamed Hazem Ahmed Nasr Gourab
3-                  Khalid Abdul Rahman Mahmoud Ahmed Abdel-Wahab
4-                  Sohaib Saad Mohamed Mohamed
5-                  Khalid Mohamed Abdul-Rauf Mohamed
6-                  Shady Abd El-Hamid Abd El-Azim
7-                  Peter Greste
8-                  Noura Hassan Al-bana

Whereas, the said defendants from October 3, 2013 to December 29, 2013 under the jurisdiction of Qasr El Nil, Cairo Governorate.

First: defendants from the first to the sixth and eighth:
Joined an illegal group aiming at propagating the impediment of the provisions of the constitution and laws and preventing state authorities and institutions from performing their functions, utilizing acts of terror as the group’s means to achieve their end goals. Also, involved in a criminal conspiracy with the aim to overthrow the governing regime, preventing the State Institutions and Authorities from exercising its powers, abusing the personal freedom of citizens, rights, and public freedom, endangering the national unity and social peace by joining the Muslim Brotherhood. A group aimed at overthrowing the ruling regime by force, infringing the freedom of individuals, and targeting public facilities in a view to disturb public order, endangers the safety of the community while using terrorism as a means in implementing its goals in a manner that shown in the investigations.

Second: the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth defendants:
Possessed printouts and recordings containing a promoting for a group established in violation of the provisions of the law, subject of the indictment which set forth in the first clause, prepared for the others to review though their knowing of what this group is calling for, its purposes and its means to reach its goals in a manner that shown in the investigations;

Third: All of the defendants:
Provided a group that was established in violation of the provisions of the law with financial aids, by providing the group, subject of the indictment which set forth in the first clause, funds, missions, equipment, machines and information while knowing what this group is calling for and its means to achieve it in a manner that shown in the investigations;

Fourth: the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and also the eighth defendant:
Possessed communications and broadcasting devices; Thuraya phone, Inmarsat, and viewpoint Mobile without obtaining official authorization from the competent administrative authorities to prejudice the national security of the country in a manner that shown in the investigations;

Fifth: the second defendant:
Possessed ammunition, spent bullet casing which cannot be granted a license to possess;

Sixth: defendants from the first to the sixth and also eighth:
While being Egyptian citizens they had deliberately broadcasted false news, data and rumors abroad about the internal situations of the country; by broadcasting false video footage, images and news through the internet and one of the satellite television channels -Al-Jazeera in order to convince the public opinion abroad that the country is in a state of internal conflict and civil war, which as a result weaken the prestige of the State and harm the national interests of the country in a manner that shown in the investigations;

Seventh: All of the defendants:
1-                  Deliberately broadcasting false news, data and rumors through the internet and one of the satellite television channels namely Al-Jazeera channel, as shown in the indictment which set forth in clause 6 thereof, with the intent of compromising public security, harming the public interest, and spreading panic among people in order to cause sedition, in a manner that shown in the investigations;
2-                  Possessed a mean of broadcasting and recording by owning imaging and broadcast devices; and audio and video transmitters for broadcasting the content subject of the indictment which set forth in the previous clause, in a manner that shown in the investigations;
3-                  Possessed falsified photos about the internal situation of the country for the purpose of broadcasting causing damage to the State’s reputation, in a manner that shown in the investigations;

Eighth: the seventh defendant Peter Greste:
Committed, in accomplice with the defendants from the first till the eighth, by way of agreement the crimes subject of the indictment set forth in the sixth clause. They provided him with media materials which have undergone editing works by deletion and addition then been broadcasted through the internet and one of the satellite television channels namely Al-Jazeera channel. Hence, the crime was committed as per that agreement and assistance, in a manner that shown in the investigations;

Accordingly, the defendants have committed the felonies and misdemeanors stipulated in articles 2/first, second paragraph (1), 40/second, third, 41/1, 80 (d)/1, 86, 86 bis/1, 3,4, 86 bis (a)/1, 2, 102 bis/1, 2, 4, 178 bis second/1 of the Penal Code; articles 1, 44, 48/1, 2, 70, 77/1/2, 3, 4 of the Act NO 10 of the year 2003 regarding Telecommunication Regulation; articles 1/1, 6, 26/4, 30/1 of the Act NO 394 of the year 1954 as amended by Acts NO 26 of the year 1978, and 165 of the year 1981; the decree by the law NO 6 of the year 2012 and table no. (3) Annexed to the first Act on Weapons and Ammunition.
The Court
Following reading out the indictment order; listening to the Public Prosecution demands and oral pleading; reviewing the papers of the case and the legal deliberation;

Whereas, the seventh defendant did not appear at the court room though he was lawfully notified, the ruling may be given by default, pursuant to the text of the first paragraph of Article # 384 of the Criminal Procedures Code.

First: defendants except the third and eighth
Whereas, the incident as ascertained by the knowledge residing in the breast of the judges of the court and according to the conviction and conscience of the court, as established from the documents of this case and investigations and as deliberated in the trial; the facts of the incident can be summarized as follows: in the absence of time, of a bygone era experienced by the country and its institutions; unlawful entities expropriated the land of the nation causing harm to the Egyptian State, believing it'll be its end, spreading the forces of darkness, violating the applicable laws in the country. However, in the midst of these events the State gained its consciousness quickly, darkness turned into light and the institutions of the state started to boost its sovereignty and extend its authority over the entire country and standing up against tampering with the destiny of this nation and what may lead to destabilize its security and stability or spreading chaos and disturbing the public security and tranquility and breach of the peace.

 The Egyptian State started to enact laws in order to regulate the rights and the exercise of freedoms, criminalize transgressions and put controls and procedures through which stability is achieved and the exercise of freedoms, but they refused the lack of stability in the country, intentionally challenged the prestige of the state, and started to spread corruption forgetting that the Egyptian state is a state of a sovereign and has the right to impose its powers over its territory, and only the law that regulates and ensures their rights and freedoms. Ignoring that the freedom of exercise of the right requires not to violate the rights of others.

Whereas, the first defendant Mohamed Fadel Fahmy established a media center in collaboration with the second defendant Baher Mohamed Hazem at the Marriott Hotel, a place that is not authorized by the State for broadcasting media material, without obtaining permits, violating by that the applicable laws in the country. The International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood deliberately turned to some Egyptian youth for help. hence, the fourth, fifth and sixth defendants established jointly another media center in the apartment No. 5, block No. 1, Plot No. 5111, 44th Street, zone E, diplomats District, Moqattam;

Culture and knowledge consider a right which is guaranteed under the constitution because it's the pillar of the life, as darkness disappears in light, so ignorance fades away when knowledge dawns. Accordingly, the citizen has the right to seek knowledge from all its sources to include the press and the media that played recently, a very important role as one of the sources of knowledge if not the most important source. Therefore, the State has committed itself to ensure its independence, neutrality and comprehensiveness in the expression of all political, intellectual and social interests, opinions and trends as well as to ensure equality, equal opportunities to address the public opinion in a way that urges media professionals to develop and observe a media charter of honor giving citizens the right to knowledge while abiding them to perform their duties honestly and truthfully away of any bias to any of the extremism and fanaticism calls, any calls to ridicule religions, calls of hatred, calls for mocking others’ faith or calls for discrimination among the sections of community. Media Charter of honor that shall furtherly abide media professionals to be accurate while collecting data and not to broadcast any falsified or incomplete news; they also shall not dishonestly shoot or create any events  in a way that might cause confusion to viewers;

Media message shall seeks the bare truth without holding certain opinion or disregarding any opposing views; it shall present only the facts and supporting evidences without concealing or editing any part thereof and here came the rule of the receiver to judge away of any influence or direction. Any deviating from the true message of media shall constitute a breach of trust on the part of the trustee to his duty to ensure the right of citizen to the knowledge; where he abuses the trust endowed and falsifies the truth though concealing part(s) thereof, and defaming the other parts only to glorify selfish desire in the interest of personal purposes;

The Qatari Al-Jazeera channel abused the media podium and has been deviated from the media charter of honor destroying all norms disregarding the damage it causes to the media professionalism only to serve its goals to tarnish such safe state, its people, and shake its stability and the integrity of its territories. In accomplishment to Jazeera evil scheme, it goes far away and established a dedicated Egyptian channel named “Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr” that seems from outside to be mercy, and inside it is fraud, deceit, defaming facts, and tracing scandals and faults in interest of Muslim Brotherhood who the Egyptian people overturned while being at the height of ruling immediately after realizing its deviation from the right path. The Egyptian people called the help of its great army to release them from the gloom and went out in the 30th of June 2013 in great masses, responding to the people’s calls the Egyptian Army and overturned the ruling of the Muslim Brotherhood for going astray.  Aljazeera went too far away of neutralism in a way that was a crystal clear to the all especially after the closure of its bureau of Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr in Egypt, banning broadcasting from Egypt, and the issuance of the Administrative judgment number 50297 of 65 judicial year. The court described Al Jazeera, following the examination of the content of its program as “blatantly deviated from neutrality and betrayed the media code of honor and broadcasted lies after the revolution against the Muslim Brotherhood, claiming that the crowds that took to the streets on the day were but a few people who do not represent the whole population and that it was a military coup and not a popular revolution”. “The channel, the court said, had sought to “drive a wedge between the people and the army” in order to “tarnish the image of the great Egyptian army and encourage mercenaries in Sinai to attack army and police personnel and slander the Egyptian people" the channel, the court said, had on purpose broadcasted false daily news about the Egyptian people, army and police forces to stir up states and foreign bodies against Egypt”. The court added that the channel is the gate of organizations and states are working on toppling the Egyptian regime; is a part of an international conspiracy aimed at dividing the state and exciting sedition among the people of the nation in interest of popularly rejected group”. “The channel, court said, went from gaining support from certain groups to fabricating and twisting facts”

The exceeds of Al Jazeera were not a mere saying but it were supported through the statements of the 1st and 2nd defendants; defendant Mohamed Mahmod Fadel who stated that the channel adopted a biased approach while covering the Egyptian events; and the 2nd defendant stated that he was requested by Al Jazeera English to prepare a report presenting the Rebel Movement as an conspiracy against the Muslim Brotherhood and insisted on interviewing members from Tagarrod (impartiality) Movement which was supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. The channel’s personnel, the 2nd defendant added, intended to take shots for Tahrir square from a certain angel during the day of the 30th Of June 2013 only to show Tahrir Square free from protestors. Channel as well, defendant said, was paying much focus on the rapes incidents occurred at Tahrir square in an attempt to present the protestors in a negative image. The channel also requested from defendant to show the negative aspects as of the constitution’s articles concerning the military trials for civilians and the appointment of the Minister of defense. Defendant added that the channel requested to broadcast the speech of General Sisi in which he requested an authorization to fight the terrorism to be shown as a call for the Egyptian people to fight the Muslim Brotherhood.

From above, Al-Jazeera, whether its Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr or Al-Jazeera English, is away from the neutralism, it is run under the same management that direct reports of the topics in order to shed the light on a particular side of the events that benefit their biased, one- sided approaches, that focus on one side of the news which consider a fabrication of the news and violates the honor and integrity of the profession.   

Therefore, It has been proven to the Court without any doubts that Al Jazeera channel had dedicated its media platform to serve and support the Muslim Brotherhood, and take side on the expense of the integrity of the profession which is enough to establish the elements of the crime of joining an outlawed group against those who run the channel and work for it while knowing its Pro- Muslim Brotherhood, yet they agreed to continue working for it. Hence, the crime of joining the aforementioned group established by being part of the Administrative or organizational structure of the group and it's also establish by every physical act such as providing of aid, assistance, advice and promoting the ideas and  approach that serve the interests of the group while being aware of its goals.

Whereas, the documents revealed that the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth defendants work for Al-Jazeera channel and prepare reports which benefit the Muslim Brotherhood and that has been proved by the confession of the second defendant Peter Greste who acknowledged at the public prosecution investigation that he entered Egypt by a tourist visa and he worked as a correspondent for Al-Jazeera without a license under the leadership of the administrative supervisor Mohamed Fahmy the first defendant, who promised him to issue the required licenses to work as  correspondent  and that he was preparing the programs, videos, and topics under the supervision of the competent administrator producer Mohamed Mahmoud Fadel Fahmy, and he was broadcasting these programs under the supervision of the second defendant Baher Mohamed Hazem and the broadcasting was from the Marriott Hotel because of the availability of (CUP) the only live broadcast device with high-speed connection to the internet, And that the first defendant is the one who was funding and distribute money for different things for the channel and he added that the footage material which was being filmed; going through three stages with consultation and approval from the headquarters under the supervision of the first defendant Mohamed Fadel, and Baher Mohamed Hazem and then the filming and editing stage and finally the approval before broadcasting and that he get his information from the producers the first and the second defendants and that the headquarter in Doha determines the type of material to be photographed and the way of interviewing people and identifying them and he admitted covering the clashes between the police and the protesters, and the Muslim Brotherhood's demonstrations every Friday, and that everything he covered was after the consultation with the first defendant / Mohamed Fahmy, and the second defendant/ Baher Mohamed Hazem. He also admitted getting caught at the Marriott Hotel with the equipment described in the seizure report.

Whereas, the second defendant/ Baher Mohamed Hazem admitted that he was working for Al-Jazeera channel and he was asked to prepare a report showing Tamarod (Rebel) campaign as a conspiracy against the Muslim Brotherhood and he added that Al-Jazeera channel used to determine the filming locations and he was asked to film Tahrir Square during the revolution of 30 June 2013 from Qasr al-Nil Bridge near the League of Arab States in order to show that the square is empty and he was asked to focus on the sexual harassment incidents in Tahrir Square to show demonstrators in a bad way and that his role was limited to notify the correspondents of the locations of the Muslim Brotherhood's demonstrations, he also added that those who run the the channel used to direct the work and set up interviews with members of the Muslim Brotherhood and that he was doing his job as directed by the leaders of the channel, and he acknowledged that  he prepared a report on Rabaa sit-in and that he was forced to continue to work with them as per his employment contract, he also stated that his father is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and frequently attended their sermons.

Whereas, the fourth defendant Sohaib Saad Mohamed Mohamed admitted that his father was working as the head of the Muslim Brotherhood Division and he and Khalid participated in protests against the coup and he met Shady at Rabaa sit-in and he participated in Rabaa sit-in, Ramses and Nasr City protests and demonstrations against the coup and he filmed dead bodies at Al Tawheed hospital at Al Tawheed Mosque and he took part in the daily protests at Nasr City and he used to film it and make video footage to be broadcast on Al-Jazeera in return for money and that he used to send some photos to the website of the so called Alaa and upload video footage from a computer connected to the internet that belongs to the channel.

Whereas, the fifth defendant Khalid Mohamed Abdul-Rauf admitted at the Public Prosecution investigations that he joined the Muslim Brotherhood and he was at Rabaa sit-in and he filmed the protest and that he had a camera with broadcasting, recording and live broadcasting options. And he was covering the events, scenes and marches inside Rabaa and he was receiving five hundred pounds per month. And he was filming and broadcasting on a website called Egypt Live and he uploaded on that website video footage showing demonstrations of the Muslim Brotherhood and crowds crawling to Nasr City to reject the coup and other footage incite against the State. He also admits his participation with the fourth defendant Sohaib Saad Mohamed and editing the filmed materials.

Whereas, the sixth defendant Shady Abd El-Hamid admitted that he is pro- Muslim Brotherhood, which is the lowest rank inside the Muslim Brotherhood organization and acknowledged that Sohaib is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and that he took part in the Muslim Brotherhood demonstrations in Nasr City after the Rabaa sit-in dispersal and that he participated with Khalid and Sohaib in broadcasting for Al Jazeera.

Based on the foregoing and what has been established from the documents that Major/ Ahmed Hussein at the Homeland Security conducted on 22/12/2013 confidential inquiries, established that the member of the Muslim Brotherhood organization / Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, born on 27/4/1974, resident of 5-Mukhtar Street, new Maddi - Algeria Square - Fourth floor, Canadian national, had booked two suites numbers 1756 & 2056 at Marriott Hotel in Zamalek on 3/10/2013 and he extended the booking period in 3/10/2013; he received many people at the said suites  all day long, some of them are foreigners and carrying  several bags and cameras. It was also established that Mohamed Mahmoud Fadel Fahmy requested from the hotel management 16 keys for the two suites in order to give it to the people who frequently visit and to the reports and media workers for some foreign channels including Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr against which a court ruling from the Administrative Court was issued to stop the channel’s broadcast. The inquiries also established that Mohamed Mahmoud Fadel Fahmy held several meetings with some members of the Brotherhood terrorist organization and used the aforementioned two suites as a media center to serves the organization. He also used the two suites for editing and live broadcasting of the news which harm the internal security of the country and ruin the image of Egypt abroad through showing the country in a state of civil war, in addition to broadcast false news which aim to provoke the citizens and create a negative opinion of the current regime and then send it to Al-Jazeera channel. And he learnt from some of the members of the Muslim Brotherhood who frequently visited the said two suits namely: Baher Mohamed Hazem Ahmed Nasr Gourab, born in 23/12/1983 resident of plot 89 h, Sheikh Zayed, 6th October, Giza - and has another residence at 50 Ministry of Agriculture Street - Dokki. He works as a journalist for Al-Jazeera channel and he is the son of the Muslim Brotherhood's member Hazem Mohamed Nasr; the member of the Media Committee of the administrative office of the Muslim Brotherhood in Giza and the owner of N Press company for media.  And Mohammed Fawzi Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, Saeed Abdul Hafiz Ibrahim, Noura Hassan Al-bana and Ahmed Abdullah Mohammed Attia and others. It was also established from the inquiries that the Australian national Peter Greste born in 01/12/1956 holds passport number 203592X, works for the Al - Jazeera channel and he was staying in room # 1951 in the period from 12/13/2013 until 01/05/2014. It was also established that the member of the Muslim Brotherhood organization / Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, used the aforementioned two suites at the Marriott Hotel in Zamalek as a media center to prepare and broadcast the false news for Al- Jazeera channel and the CNN, until his employment contract ended. The inquiries also confirmed that the aforementioned members of the Muslim Brotherhood organization worked as correspondents for foreign channels without a license and possessed broadcasting equipment without a license and in the light of the current trend of Al-Jazeera channel to use a number of media workers of foreign nationals to avoid security monitoring after the court ruling of its ban from broadcasting in Egypt; and theses investigation were submitted to the Supreme State Security Prosecution in order to grant a search warrant for the two suites # 1756 & 2056 and the room number 1951 to caught everyone inside as well as confiscating the cameras, broadcast equipment, computers and the editing tools. In addition to confiscating the elements indicated in the report and search their place of residence. It was also attached to this report another investigation report dated 2 January 2014 stating that the investigation proved that the International Organization of the terrorist Brotherhood assigned a Media Committee at the organization in Doha, Qatar, to manage the movement of the members of the organization and to coordinate with other foreign and Egyptian elements within and outside the country to use the footage materials after editing in order to damage the internal security of the country and they used another media center as a headquarter through which they edit and broadcast false news that endanger the internal security of the country in the apartment No. 5, block No. 1, Plot No. 5111, 44th Street, zone E, diplomats District, Moqattam area, Cairo which is rented by Al-Nour company for production which is owned to Ahmed Abdo Fath Allah “member in the organization” the owner of Al-Nour Company for media production; he lives in that headquarter to which Sohaib Mohamed Mohamed [was born on 1 November 1993, a student at October Higher Institute for Economics, lives at 21 Mohandessin, the industrial Zone, Fayoum; and has another residence in Cairo at the building no. 1, flat no. 5, plot no. 5111, street 44 of Zone E, diplomatic district, Mokatam]; Khaled Mohamed Abdel Raouf  [wan born on 20 May, 1992, a student at the information faculty, Cairo University; resides at 10 Ibrahim Al-Dossoki Street, Mahla Al-Kobrsa, Gharbia, and has another residence place in Cairo at the building no. 1, flat no. 5, plot no. 5111, street 44 of Zone E, diplomatic district, Mokatam]; Shady Abdel Hameed Abdel Azeem Ibrahim [was born on 13 September, 1990, student in Ain Shams University, and resides at 24 of the logistics departments  and has another residence at the building no. 1, flat no. 5 at the plot no. 5111 of street 44 of Zone E, diplomatic district, Mokatam] and others used to go;

The prosecution authorized law enforcement officers to detain and search the suspected persons, who their names are listed in the police investigation report, and to search their residence places mentioned at the police investigation report, to seize any of cameras, photographic and broadcasting equipment; computers; and video editing tools. Accordingly, Captain Mohamed Ezz of the National Security Sector moved to Marriot Hotel accompanied by the security force, Captain Waleed Abdel Azem, officer at the police general department of artistic works, and Engineer Ahmed Abdel Hakeem from the Television and Radio Union. At the Hotel’s suit no. 2056 the defendant Mohamed Mahmoud Fadel Fahmy was arrested and allowed them to search the place. Upon searching the place, two Cameras (SONY CINEALTA CHD and SONY MPEG2SD AVCHD); a small Canon camera model G193 5033 0628; two camera holders; a cable-microphone; a bag contains sound cables, and internet cables; two wireless microphones (i.e. without transmission or sending cables); IPod holding the serial number 60GP; four laptops (three Apple laptops holding the serial numbers CO2 K407 CDV35, CO2JJJILDFIG4, and W800735T66E) and one Toshiba laptop holding the serial number 3C25085XR; unite includes two hard disks having the serial number S/NA08336-K29-E016; ADVC-55 to convert data from cameras to laptop device for video editing or for live broadcasting purpose; video editing unit attached to an Apple keyboard; three SUN GUN light kit connected to electric distributor; a camera light with a holder; voltage regulator; a printer having the serial number S/NCNCGB25897; two hard disks holding the serial numbers NX70KITS, and UGGEO; live broadcasting device of HUGHES model 9201 having the serial number S/N3003920-001 transmits through the internet “card”;  live broadcasting equipment TV LOGIC model 071K0272S/N LVW071W; three gas masks; three-paged paper titled “the most important court’s trials for December”; number of handwritten papers titled financial corruption in Sharm El-Sheikh, an initiative to support culture in Egypt, students’ stroke to exams, the coupists are seeking to regain Mubarak regime, and the roadmap is deviated from the right path; a handwritten paper titled “the roadmap is turned into valueless object”; a printed paper “titled important tips to save marches”; and an amount of money of seven hundreds US dollars of five $100 papers, and four $50 papers, and one hundred and fifty Egyptian pounds of a paper of one-hundred Egyptian pound and one paper of fifty Egyptian pounds;

Moving to room number 1951 the Australian Peter Greste was arrested. Upon searching his room the following were seized; Apple laptop having the serial number S/N CO2FV0CSDF93; a NIKON digital camera having the serial number 8009517; an amount of money of one hundred and ten South African Rand of three papers of fifty Rand and three papers of twenty Rand, and one thousand Lebanese lira of one paper; and a BlackBerry mobile phone.
In execution to the Prosecution’s order, Captain Ahmed Al-Sayed of the National security sector was moved to the residence of Baher Mohamed Hazem, the later was arrested. Upon searching the place the following were seized:
-          Eight digital cameras; one camera lens; medium-size Sony camera and its charger; one additional battery inside its case; silver colored medium-sized Sony Camera with its case and charger; Nikon Camera with its case; Canon photographic camera with its accessories and case; Nikon Camera’s lens, two Canon digital camera; Creative digital Camera; Apple IPod; and Lenovo laptop with all its accessories inside a light blue bag in which a small-sized box was found along with black LG mobile phone; black Samsung mobile phone; Vodafone USB; empty gas bullet; two passports for the defendant having many visa to different states; set of pictured papers titled “how to revolt cleverly”; an agenda issued by Al Jazeera English of year 2013, 16 Gigabytes flash memory; DVD; plastic card of Marriot Hotel; a fire gunshot of automatic firearm; Mobinil sim card; employment contract for the defendant at Al Jazeera; and others;

In execution to the Prosecution’s order, Captain Ahmed Mohamed of the National Security Sector moved to the building no. 1, flat no. 5, plot no. 5111, street 44 of Zone E, diplomatic district, Mokatam where Sohaib Saad Mohamad Mohamed, Khaled Mohamed Abdel Raouf Mohamed, and Shady Abdel Hameed Abdel Azeem; were arrested, and upon searching the apartment the following were seized:
-          Mobile Viewpoint - live wireless video and data transmission; HDV device that is recording and playing back DV-HDV tapes of television cameras; Mini/DV Sony Camera and its charger; white Samsung Camera; three small-sized audio cassette devices; fifteen mini/DV; a video tape for television cameras; two satellite phone (Thuraya); live photo transmission began-inmar sat; backup medium-sized unit to keep energy (ecm); Apple laptop; two hard disks; Dell Computer case; eight different brands of cell phones; black microphone; an amount of money of twenty thousands and seven hundreds Egyptian pounds [sixty papers of the fifty Egyptian pounds paper, ninety nine papers of the one-hundred paper, and thirty nine papers of the two-hundred paper] and two thousands US dollars [forty papers of the $50 paper]; thirteen badges having the photo of the ousted President Mohammed Morsi and the phrase “the order Committee”; two bandages having the word “Muslim brotherhood”; five files having papers concerning Al-Nour Company for media production and distribution; twenty five cards topped with the words “media – order” and footed with words “Muslim brotherhoods and Justice and Freedom Party”; two colored maps for the Arabian world and Europe; a book titled “nthrat fi rsalah alta'alim” (looks at the message of teachings) by Mohamed Abdel Allah Al-Khateb and Mohamed Abdel Haleem Hamed; and a book titled “Making the leaders …Art” by Salah Al Din Sultan.

In witness whereof, and it was established that the search reports, and the seized objects have been sent to the High State Security Prosecution for review; and the latter ordered to send the seized objects to the General Department for Criminal Evidence Investigation to examine the seized object to determine whether it have any recorded clips, photos, interviews, or speeches that would prejudice national unity or create chaos in the state, and if yes to explain the details of the content and if any changes were occurred either by addition or deletion – by the works of montage – with a view to weaken the prestige of the State; and to determine if the seized objects have any electronic shots that may be used to defame any of the State’s bodies. The report of the General Department for Criminal Evidence Investigation showed that the examinations of the objects seized at Mohamed Mahmoud Fadel Fahmy’s residence are as follow:
1.      Upon the examination of the Apple laptop that holds the serial number W800073ST66E, it was shown that it contains text files having the phone numbers of some army officers, policemen, judges, Coptic church, the league of Arab State, the 25 of January coalition, Ministry of Justice, and other ministries; list of the reporters; an agenda covering the protests of the students of Cairo University; anti-coup; coverage for some events in Sinai by the Al-Qaeda, terrorism and number of death there; news about Mohammed al-Zawahiri; news about Libya and the ongoing events there; Syrian league for the defence of human rights; a bank statement by BLOM Egypt bank; different news about Egypt; news about the League of Arab States; copy of a court judgment by Sidi Gaber court against Alexandria girls on the accusation of illegal assembly and cutting off the road; list of the names of Al Jazeera’s personnel in Cairo office; and photos from the file of the Libyan Transparency Association, some people, Bedouins, an individual standing before a tank in Libya, same person standing beside armed men in Libya, same person with individuals in military cloths, the 25 of January Revolution, protests against the military council, and Mohamed Morsi on his way to the court.
2.      Apple laptop having the serial number C02KR40ZCDV35 and upon examination thereof it is showed that it contains video clips on the Muslim brotherhood’s protests, Rabaa sit in, interviews with some people including a press interview with Amr Hamzawi, Ziad Bahaa Al Din during the elections of the constituent assembly, protests in Mohamed Mahmoud Street 2011, an injured journalist from Al-Jomhoriah newspaper laying on a bed speaking about the lies of the Military council and revealing the cause of the death of Kamel Abdel Raouf “journalist at Al Ahram newspaper”, an interview with Ahmed Maher, protests for Muslim brotherhood while raising the four-fingered Rabaa sign, photos for Mohamed Morsi, shots for Tahrir square and the police and army forces there, shooting inside a textile factory in Mahla Al Kobra and interviews with its workers, protests for 6th of April Movement, Rabaa sit in, hostile events between protesters from Muslim Brotherhood and police forces; and text files about the most important courts for December 2013;
3.      Apple laptop having the serial number CO2JJ1LDF1G4 and upon examination thereof it is showed that it contains video clips on the Muslim brotherhood protests while raising the four-fingered Rabaa sign in Tahrir square, Rabaa sit-in; interviews with some youth on the return of legitimacy and Morsi; the events of the 25 of January and clashes between protests and security officers; burning police vehicles on 6th of October bridge; recording from one of the satellite channels for a program shows a telephone call between Ahmed Adel and Ahmed Maher; the murder attempts of the Egyptian Minister of Interior Affairs / Mohamed Ibrahim; an interview from Rabaa Mosque with Salah Sultan; Al Azhar University’s events; the assault by the police officers against the she students; shots from Rabaa platform shows Safwat Hegazi, Salah Sultan and others; video attributed to Ansar Bait Al Maqdis in which the voice of Ayman Al-Zawahiri is recorded while talking about the events in Egypt, a man called Waleed Badr in a military cloths is talking; then some of exercises by Ansar Beit Al Maqdis; riot events from Mansura University; and photos of south Sinai Security Directorate showing the signs of destruction in the front and some of vehicles around;
4.      Apple laptop having the serial number C02JJJ1LTF1G4 and upon examination it shows that it contains video clips for a school party for Muslim Brotherhood while raising Rabaa sign against General Sisi; and interviews with some individuals;
5.      Toshiba laptop and upon examination it shows that it contains text files on the names, cell phones numbers of some institutions, Muslim brotherhood members, public figures, artists, and human right activists; copy of the court judgment issued by Sidi Gaber Court against Alexandria’s girls on the accusation of illegal assembly and cutting off road; and a video on a fire broke out in unknown place;
6.       Hard disk having the serial number 14291111022200QR, and upon examination thereof it was found that it contains videos on the protests by the Muslim Brotherhood; shouts against Sisi; protests for Muslim Brotherhood to boycott the constitution; shooting for an orphanage house called Dar Al Basma;  recording from the field hospital in Rabaa sit in for some injuries and deaths; the dispersal of Rabaa sit in and throwing stones by some individuals from above the nearby buildings on the security forces; Rabaa sit in and the transfer of deaths and injured to the field hospital; the assembly of some people for performing funeral prayers for some deaths at one of one of the mosques and interviews with some of them; shooting by small airplane to the events of Rabaa sit in; photos for Muslim brotherhood’s protests, coffined bodies inside one of the mosques, many IDs, Wagdi Al Arabi and Safwat Hegazi at Rabaa sit in, Rabaa’s podium while standing thereon bearded people along with Safwat Hegazi, Mohamed el-Beltagy and other members from the Muslim brotherhood; and other hard disks that contains some other videos.

Upon the examination of the seizures of Peter Greste it showed the following:
1.      Hungarian-made BlackBerry cell phone having the serial number 357174040377915 and it has a Vodafone sim card with no stored data; though while examining the phone two Gigabytes storage sim was found having pornographic clips; audio files for an interview for Mohamed Al-Zawahiri; and photos for burned police vehicles, a man holding an incarnate for the Field Marshal Tantawy written on it “Mr. Marshal stop! it is a revolution”, Tahrir square; Mubarak with his two sons; Alaa and Gamal before giving his speech during the course of the 25 of Jan Revolution, a man with Morsi, Al-Shatter and number of religious characters, artists and politicians, a man having marks of beatings on his body on which he wrote the statement Allah Akbar “God is the greatest”; a protest before New Cairo Court and people raising a sign saying “freedom for Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman”; Canadian passport; photos for demonstrations before the Cathedral and army armored vehicles; photos for demonstrations and signs saying “Be aware of the false channels”; photos for army trucks carrying armored vehicles and equipment; a photo for a person carrying Molotov; photos for protestors raising Rabaa sign; photos for firearms and a person holding a weapon; and photos for protests raising signs against Ahmed Shafiq and waving Al Qaeda flags;
2.      Computers, internet modems; and two memory readers;

Upon the examination of the seizures of Baher Mohamed Hazem it showed the following:
1.      Lenovo laptop contained photos for Essam Al Arian with one of the individual at Rabaa sit in; a paper on which a statement is written urges the great people of Sohag to go down to the Muslim Youth Square on 26 July, 2013; photos for protests by Muslim brotherhood supporting Morsi in many streets; photos for some people holding weapons; photos for some injured people and deaths; photos for some protests before the platform in front of bricks barriers in the midst of the road; photo for a banner mocking Sisi; photos of the dispersal of Rabaa sit in; photos for deaths in Al Eman Mosque; photos for a mass outside the police academy raising Mubarak pictures; videos from Al Eman Mosque for some of the coffined deaths; a photo of a press statement about setting the 4th of November, 2013 to review the judicial case number 10790/2013 Heliopolis Criminal court in which Morsi and others are accused of; photo of the prosecution’s writ to punish the defendants of the crimes of the illegal gathering, hooliganism, vandalism of public property, and attacking public servant on the events of Al-Azhar of imprisonment for seventeen years; a copy of the Egyptian constitution before putting for voting; text files for names and telephone numbers for State’s bodies, public figures, members of the Brotherhood's Guidance Office; a video for the arrival of Morsi to the court room at the police academy; a press statement for a meeting of the Egyptian council of ministries; text files for the most important trials of December; names and phone numbers of the spokesmen of the movement of students against coup on all over the republic; a transcript of a phone call between Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel about a training in Serbia; a report on the number of deaths in Rabaa sit in by a person called Hisham Abdel Hameed; and some news about Mohamed Morsi and General Sisi;
2.      GT-B7722 Samsung cell phone having the serial number RUWB195427F of dual sim cards; one for Etisalat Company has no stored data and the other for Vodafone; the data stored on the later was printed out. Upon the examination of the phone, one-gigabyte sim card was found containing files for personal photo for a person called Mohamed Hazem Ahmed Nasr Ghorab in Al Jazeera Studio; text files about instructions on how to prepare and present radio programs, the rules of the television presentation, summary about the television presentation, the voice’s tone on the audio and visual media, a deep insight on the events of the 11th of September, the new global system, bullying and domination, a global financial crisis or a global humanitarian crisis and others;
3.      Vodafone internet modem having a Vodafone sim card; number of cell phones and external memory storage;
4.      Eight digital cameras; a Sony video camera holding the serial number 1108938 with no tapes; digital Sony video camera having the serial number 541246 having inside a Melody DVD-WR of 1.4 gigabyte and one-gigabyte memory upon the examination of the memory card photos and clips for graduation parties for American University’s students, plays, football matches, and musical concerts were found; a Sony video camera holding the serial number 800066 with no sims inside and upon the examination of the stored data 238 digital photos were found and 87 clips of a conference to Mortada Mansour, a meeting for the leaders of Muslim Brotherhoods with leaders from Hamas and other clips; a Chinese small digital camera with no sims inside; a digital Nikon camera with a zooming lens without a memory card; Canon digital camera having text files on the programs of the 25th of January TV Channel as of the names of the program and the plan of the Channel; digital photos and clips for one of the program’s presenter; and variable-aperture zooming lens for distance shots.
5.      A bullet that is used for 7.62x54mm weapon ready for firing; upon loading it into the proper weapon it was functioned efficiently in a way that underlines its validness for use;
6.      Empty gam canister and cylinder-shaped body of 12.4 cm length x 3.7 cm diameter and it is proved to be for empty bullet of tear gas bullet that is usually used by security forces;

Upon the examination of the seizure found at the residence of Sohaib Saad Mohamed, Khaled Mohamed Abdel Raouf and Shady Abdel Hameed Abdel Azeem located at the building no. 1, flat no. 5, plot no. 5111, street 44 of Zone E, diplomatic district, Mokatam; the following were found:
1.      Apple laptop holding the serial number C02JJ5T6DV33 upon the examination thereof, photos were found for a man in military cloths raising Rabaa sign, members of The Rebel Movement, sign having pictures of the security forces and some protestors saying “cheer the Ministry of interior affairs up”;  a release calling for the strike of the second year of the information faculty, Al Azhar University; photos folders; sarcastic song on the Military council and Al Nour Party; recordings for television programs from satellite channels about the Muslim brotherhood; and video clips for the Muslim brotherhood’s protestors while raising Rabaa sign and Morsi’s pictures, protests by the Muslim Brotherhoods while raising signs saying “Down with Military Rule”, and protests for Muslim brotherhoods raising signs saying “freedom for the Egyptian women " and interviews with some of them;
2.      One terabyte Chinese-made SEAGATE hard disk holding the serial number 5VPDM4LF and upon the examination photo files were found include photos for the 1st Arab Conference to finance the small projects; a membership card to the Justice and Freedom Party; empty gunshots; interviews with some of the Muslim Brotherhood members, the Islamic organizations; politicians, artists, media men and religion men; a landmine; the Israeli flag; a cartouche; sarcastic comments; down to the Military ruling; Rabaa’s platform while having some of the sheikhs; damaged police armored vehicle; sign saying “I will not go down into the streets on 30 June and will not go with any of the two sides”; a topic at the People newspaper titled “Sawiris is an American-Jewish spy”; a picture describing Sisi as an agent; protestors raising Rbaa sign; banner calling for the Metro’s insurrection; and video files for interviews with some people about the kidnapped soldiers and their return; clip from Nile News Channel about Sinai peoples and their troubles; Israeli Channel 2 TV news;  the week program; interviews with some people; an interview about the events in Egypt after Sisi’s statement; a news report on soccer fans’ riot in Israel; clip from Nile News Channel on the citizens’ opinions about the 30 of June demonstrations; interviews on the citizens’ opinions on the killing of Shia citizens in Egypt; Al Nahar channel; Yousef Abdel Rahman speaking to the Minister of Interior Affairs saying “How would you possibly justify the murder of two thousands person for ten machine guns”; other issues. As well as other hard disks from among some proved to be damaged;
3.      Two Sony digital camera; small-sized Sony video camera; three audio cassette; fifteen small-sized tapes having recordings of the events of the conference of the Justice and Freedom party on the Secretariat for Women in Cairo; the conference of the justice and freedom party in the presence of Essam Al Arian and Al Beltagy; art shows; the recommendation of the Conference; the conference of the justice and freedom party in the presence the public, Essam Al Arian, Al Beltagy, and other Muslim Brotherhood’s leaders speaking about the fruits of the 25th of January Revolution; an interview with Hatem Moatasem speaking about the constitution while attacking the military council; Islamic preaching meeting part I & II; advocacy campaign titled Morsi is the Republic’s president attended by Khairat Al Shatter and Muslim brotherhood’s leaders;
4.      Eight different band cell phones and upon the examination thereof personal photos were found for many people raising Rabaa sign; a list of the names of the injured and martyrs students; some photos for the events of Rabaa sit in; photos of the dispersal of Rabaa sit in; photos of the gate of Leman Tora , photos for several machine guns, live ammunition, rocket-propelled grenades; and hand grenades of different types; many other cameras which it was hard to examine its memories; and microphones;

The criminal investigation report has found that the seizures include recorded clips and photos that are used to shake the national unity, spread chaos in the State through the use of Final Cut Pro editing software. It constitute the acts of spreading false information and rumors to spread seditions and fears among citizen and foreigners in an attempt to cause harm to the public interest and tarnish Egypt’s image;

Accordingly a tripartite Committee was formed from the Broadcasting Engineering Department and The Egyptian Radio and Television Union consisting of Eng. Kamal Mohamed Kamal Mohamed “the chief of the broadcasting engineering as a president”; Eng. Kamal Mohamed kamal Mohamed “engineer at the broadcasting engineering department”; Mahmoud Saoud Abdel Salam “Editing technician at the broadcasting engineering department” to examine the seizures to identify if its possession requires a license or not and to empty the content thereof to identify if it includes material prejudicing the national unity, and social peace; spread chaos; if so to identify if such materials were subjected to any kind of editing by addition, omission or amendment to its content in a manner that causes harm to the public interest or weaken the state’s image;

Upon the examination of the seizures, the report of the tripartite Committee has established the follow:
1.      Began Inmarsat devise for transmitting and sending audio and video materials through satellite. It obtains its material through a devise its possession requires a license from the  Egyptian Radio and Television Union;
2.      Mobile viewpoint devise for live wireless video and data transmission through the land mobile network; it obtains its video and data through live video camera. It is a devise that requires a license from The Egyptian Radio and Television Union;
3.      EKG C100 video camera that streams live videos and audio on the internet and it is a device requires a license from The Egyptian Radio and Television Union.
4.      Sony HXR-NX70P Camera, with serial No. 511195; used in filming (audio & photo) and recording on memory card. The camera contains one memory card (SD 1) 16GB, and while viewing the card it turned out that it contains: video press reports some in Arabic and the other in English including events dated 3/12/2013, 4/12/2013, 7/12/2013, 9/12/2013, 12/12/2013, 14/12/2013, 16/12/2013, 17/12/2013, 18/12/2013, 19/12/2013, 21/12/2013, 22/12/2013 and 23/12/2013, containing a press report about having someone talking about some of the violations committed by the current regime and showing it as it's worse than the violations committed in Mubarak's regime on 26/3/2013. Upon the examination of these video clips it is showed that the works of editing have been done to some of it;
5.      Sony HVR-M15AE recorder, with serial No. 0214635 used in recording footage (audio & photo) on DV.
6.      Editing unit (screen inside it central control unit) with Apple Wireless Keyboard, with the live transmission option through internet; upon examination a footage of an interview with Dr. ElBaradei was found that is proved to be downloaded from the internet.
7.      Five Mini DV tapes, which are tapes for recording video footages, and played on its own video camera or its own video device. And by viewing its contents;  it turned out that it contains several videos about the following video on the first General Conference of  The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) with footages from the January 25 Revolution, battle of the Camels, scenes from the People's Council, a recording of an interview with a guest talking about the 2012 Constitution and the  starting of the constitution after 25 January 2011, a video about an  announcer speaking in English, a footage of unknown street in Cairo, a religious program in English with Arabic subtitle, a guest talking about the constitution and the  Constituent Assembly of 2012, a video of the former Minister of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) talking about the 2012 constitution, a video of  a mass conference in support of Mohamed Morsi during the course of the presidential election against Commander-in-Chief Ahmed Shafiq where Khairat el-Shater and Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud are talking. Upon the examination, these video are proved to be undergone editing works;
8.      Canon Video Camera with serial No. 5213215788 contains a memory card inside, by viewing its contents photographs of handwritten documents with different dates were found to include (Major/ Mohi Al Halawani of group 26 has called), (the Minister called the Radio & TV on 20/5/1980, 22/5/1982 and a photo of the burned National Democratic Party Headquarter in Tahrir and old papers of Al-Ahram newspaper).
9.      Canon Video Camera, with serial No. 5214631254, and two memory cards were find inside. Upon viewing the content of the first card photographs of conference in Sudan, photographs of heavy military weapon, and photographs of forces likely to be for the Peacekeeping forces and the second card was empty.
10.   Sony HD Video Camera, by viewing its contents a video showing part of a football match, a video with several attempts of shooting an acting scene showing police officers badly treat defendants and this video was not subject of editing. The committee believes that this video is a project of a short dramatic scene which will be edited. And also there were photos of a group of young people and personal photos of Egyptians and foreigners;
11.  Apple laptop with serial No. CO2K40ZCDV35 upon turning it on two users accounts were found; the main account could not be opened because of not having the password thereof;



Translation by Heba Musa & Nouran Mohamed 







No comments:

Post a Comment

Are any human rights absolute?

There are certain human rights which can be said to be unchangeable in their nature. These ‘absolute’ rights cannot be suspended for any r...