EGYPT: AYMAN NOUR TRIAL OFF TO CHAOTIC START

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 004917

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/28/2015
TAGS: PHUM KDEM EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: AYMAN NOUR TRIAL OFF TO CHAOTIC START


Classified by ECPO Counselor John Desrocher for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: The Ayman Nour trial opened on June 28 in a
chaotic atmosphere, as hundreds of Nour's supporters (alleged
by some to be a "rent-a-crowd") swarmed the courthouse
shouting anti-GOE slogans and jostled with police as they
attempted to access the courtroom. Police prevented most
from entering the courtroom but generally appeared to act
with restraint. After considerable confusion, described by
Nour himself as a "circus," the court began its session,
launching immediately into the substance of the case. Nour
entered a not guilty plea and his lawyers filed a petition
for dismissal, citing procedural violations in the way Nour's
parliamentary immunity was lifted. The defense also filed a
motion calling for three ministers to be summoned as
witnesses. Three of Nour's codefendants, whom Nour has
condemned as government plants, entered guilty pleas. The
trial will resume on Thursday June 30. End summary.


2. (SBU) The trial of opposition party leader and
presidential candidate Ayman Nour got off to a chaotic start
on June 28. The South Cairo Courthouse in the Bab al-Khalq
district was surrounded by at least 40 police trucks, with
hundreds police in riot gear deployed in concentric lines.
The front entrance to the courthouse was blocked by hundreds
of Ghad Party supporters and riot police containing them.
The only way in or out of the courthouse was through a side
door. Large orange banners were mounted over the court's
front door and across the street, carrying slogans such as
"Judges: Hear the People's Voice - Ayman Nour is Innocent"
"Justice for Ayman Nour!" and "No to Oppression: Change Now!"


3. (SBU) Inside the courthouse, confusion prevailed for
almost two hours as Nour, flanked by hundreds of supporters,
proceeded to several different courtrooms, to which he was
apparently denied entry. The hundreds of Ghad Party
supporters attempting to access the courtroom where they
presumed the trial would occur scuffled with police, who used
mace on several occasions. Police observed by Emboffs
generally acted with restraint, pushing back demonstrators
who attempted to breach their lines, but refraining from
using their batons. At one point, Nour stood at a landing
and addressed supporters on the steps below him: "This is
not a trial, this is a circus! It is unacceptable that
witnesses, lawyers, and journalists will not be admitted to
the courtroom!"


4. (C) Eventually, Nour and six codefendants (whom he claims
were planted within the Ghad Party by state security in order
to forge documents and thus create a criminal case against
him) found their way to the defendant's cage and the trial
proceeded in a stuffy courtroom packed with observers. Most
observers, including foreign diplomats and journalists who
came to the courthouse, were unable to access the courtroom,
as the path to the door was blocked by dozens of riot police.
A few diplomats managed to access the courtroom by climbing
through a window. Nour, who had been hustled around the
court house in the middle of a scrum of hundreds of
supporters, appeared pale and haggard when he took his seat
in the cage.


5. (C) Contrary to some predictions, the court immediately
launched into discussion of the substance of the case. Nour
entered a plea of not guilty on charges of forging hundreds
of signatures on a petition submitted to the GOE in support
of the Ghad Party's license application. Nour's lawyers
filed a petition for dismissal of the case, citing violations
of procedure in the manner Nour was stripped of his
parliamentary immunity from prosecution. Nour's lawyers also
filed a motion calling for three cabinet members, Minister of
Justice Mahmoud Aboul Leil, Interior Minister Habil El-Adly,
and Minister of People's Assembly Affairs Kamal El-Shazly, be
called as witness, in connection with the defense's claims
that senior GOE officials conspired to frame Nour. Three of
Nour's codefendants entered guilty pleas on charges of
forgery and related offences. The court adjourned in the
mid-afternoon, setting another session for the morning of
June 30.


6. (C) Comment: Several Egyptian journalists we chatted with
asserted that most or all of Nour's "supporters" present were
hired by the Ghad Party. We have no way of verifying or
disproving the presence of a "rent-a-crowd" but many
supporters we spoke with appeared sincere in their opposition
to the GOE's case against Nour, which several described as
"an attack on democracy." Many if not most of Nour's
loyalists present came from Bab al-Shariya, his lower middle
class constituency in Central Cairo. Noticeably absent were
pro-government counter-demonstrators, whom some Ghad Party
contacts had predicted would be out in force to harass Nour's
supporters.


7. (C) Comment continued: The fact that three codefendants
promptly entered guilty pleas on forgery charges does not
prove, but is consistent with, Nour's allegations that the
codefendants were hired by State Security to commit the
forgeries and create a criminal case against him. It remains
to be seen whether Nour's trial will be fast-tracked or
dragged out throughout the summer. Those who predict the
latter argue that the GOE has an interest in keeping Nour, a
presidential candidate and harsh critic of the Mubarak
regime, "otherwise occupied" in the final months before
Egypt's first competitive presidential election. Nour
himself predicted in a recent interview that the trial would
backfire against the GOE by stoking public sympathy for him
and exposing the "injustice" of his case. While Nour's case
has certainly elevated his public profile, we believe he has
an inflated sense of his standing on the Egyptian street,
where he is viewed by many as a slick opportunist or even "an
American agent," as some in the ruling NDP, and the tabloid
press, have charged. End comment.


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