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With his allies in the Muslim Brotherhood hailing a “decisive” day in the country’s democratic transition, hundreds of Mursi supporters came to protest at the courthouse, accusing the generals of using the judiciary to undermine his authority.
With opinion split on how the Cairo administrative court would rule, tension was high as lawyers, protesters and members of the public pushed and elbowed one other.
“Down, down with military rule,” shouted supporters of the Brotherhood, drawing an angry response from their opponents.
“Down, down with the rule of the (Brotherhood’s) Supreme Guide,” shouted a woman as the courtroom descended into mayhem.
“I have never seen a courtroom like this anywhere in the world. This is no way for us to work. Do you call this justice?” said one lawyer, Khaled Fouad.
Judge Abdel Salam El-Naggar arrived and told the crowd: “Your presence here will not intimidate the court.” He suspended the session to allow time for the atmosphere to cool.
The power struggle unleashed by the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak last year has shifted from the streets to the ballot box and now the courts as Islamists vie for influence with their perennial adversaries in an army-led establishment.
At yesterday’s hearings judges were to decide if an assembly drafting a new constitution should be scrapped. They were also to hear appeals against decrees by the military and one from Mursi that recalled an Islamist-dominated parliament that the generals had dissolved.
“Everybody should know that the conspiracy against parliament will end in failure, as will the conspiracy against the constituent assembly and the constitution, and the president himself,” said Essam al-Erian, leader of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, in al-Ahram newspaper.
Brotherhood supporters warned the army not to undermine the country’s new elected institutions.
“Who elected the constitutional assembly? Parliament. And who elected parliament? The people. We are the ones to determine our fate,” said 20-year-old student Ahmed Mohamed el-Sayed, a member of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP).
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday she was “not offended” by protesters in Egypt who pelted her motorcade with tomatoes, calling the demonstrations a sign of greater freedom and anxiety, and mainly regretting what she saw as wasted food.
Asked about the assault on Sunday in Alexandria, where protesters threw tomatoes, one of them hitting an Egyptian official in the face, Clinton attributed the outburst to nervousness about the changes taking place in Egypt.
“The sooner that there can be a government that takes responsibility, whose actions can be judged and held accountable, then people will be able to draw decisions because words don’t mean as much as actions and therefore I was not offended,” Clinton said in Jerusalem hours after arriving from Egypt.
“I was relieved that nobody was hurt and I felt bad that good tomatoes were wasted but other than that, it was not particularly bothersome,” Clinton said.
She also saw the protest as “a sign of that freer environment that Egypt now enjoys. It is also evidence that the Egyptian people are still concerned about the future”.
A senior US official said neither Clinton nor her vehicle, which was around the corner from the incident, were hit by the projectiles, which also included shoes and a water bottle. The objects were thrown as US officials and reporters walked to the motorcade after her speech.
Protesters chanted “Monica, Monica”, a reference to the extra-marital affair conducted by Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, while in the White House. Others earlier chanted “leave, Clinton”, an Egyptian security official said.
Demonstrations have become common in Egypt since former President Hosni Mubarak, a longtime US ally, was brought down by mass street protests last year. — AP.
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