Cairo: An Egyptian court Wednesday rejected a US appeal to release a young activist in the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, accused along with other 50 Islamists of inciting violence.
The appeal was sent in a letter form by US State department to release Mohammad Salah Sultan, who also holds US citizenship, on health grounds. Sultan, a son of a leading Brotherhood official, is on a hunger strike that has reportedly taken a toll on his health.
Last month, US President Barack Obama raised Sultan’s issue at talks with Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi in New York on the sidelines of a UN gathering.
In rejecting the US appeal, the Cairo Criminal Court said the country’s judicial authority is independent.
“The court refuses the interference by any country, whatever it is, because the Egyptian judiciary is independent, and is unconcerned about political aspects or the legal status of any accused,” presiding judge Mohammad Shehata said. “All people are equal before the court.”
In Wednesday’s session, the prosecution submitted a medical report saying that Sultan is in good health and does not need special medical care. Sultan’s sympathizers have mentioned in online petitions that he has been on a months-long hunger strike, putting his life is at risk.
The court said the next session will be held on November 5.
Fifty-one Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood’s head Mohammad Badie, are being tried by the court for allegedly setting up an operation room to spread chaos in Egypt in the wake of the army’s 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi.
The defendants are also charged with planning attacks on police stations and churches after security forces mounted a deadly crackdown on a pro-Mursi protest camp in Cairo in August 2013.
Hundreds of leading Islamists and Brotherhood’s followers have been detained since his removal allegedly for instigating or involvement in violence. The Brotherhood has dismissed the charges as politically motivated.
