Egyptian judge accused of political activity suspended by court

Ahram Online , Thursday 23 Oct 2014

Egyptian Judge Hassan Yassin suspended from judiciary after accusations of signing pro-Morsi statement in 2013

 Hassan Yassin
Former assistant prosecutor general Hassan Yassin (Photo: Al-Ahram)

Cairo's appeals court decided on Thursday to suspend a judge accused of engaging in politics.

Former assistant prosecutor general Hassan Yassin was hit with the suspension decision after being accused of signing a statement supporting ousted president Mohamed Morsi shortly after his removal from power in the summer of 2013.

Yassin is one of sixty Egyptian judges whom were referred to a disciplinary board on Monday after investigations concluded that they support a political faction – the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Judge Sherine Fahmy, delegated by the Cairo Appeals Court to investigate the issue, had ruled to refer 60 judges to the board and recommended for them to be removed from the bench.

Among them is Judge Mahmoud Mohey El-Din, who also faces fraud accusations for allegedly including the names of judges – other than the 60 – who did not sign the statement.

In December of 2013, the government banned the Muslim Brotherhood and declared it a terrorist organisation.

During his turulent one year in office, Islamist president Mohamed Morsi often clashed with a large part of the judiciary by attempting to usurp certain judicial powers for the presidency.

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