EGYPT: AT SECOND DAY OF AYMAN NOUR TRIAL,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 004981

SIPDIS

NSC STAFF FOR POUNDS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2015
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: AT SECOND DAY OF AYMAN NOUR TRIAL,
PROSECUTION WITNESS RECANTS

REF: CAIRO 4917

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


1. (C) Summary: In a second chaotic session of the Ayman Nour
trial, a codefendant and witness for the prosecution recanted
his guilty plea and claimed he had been pressured by the
government to testify against Nour. The development
emboldened Nour and his supporters but surprised the judges,
who promptly adjourned the proceedings and set a new session
for July 6. Nour has been using the trial and attendant
publicity as a venue to present himself as an alternative to
Mubarak and embarrass the GOE in the process. End summary.



2. (SBU) The second session of the trial of opposition party
leader Ayman Nour, the embattled presidential candidate
charged with forgery, was held on June 30. Like opening day
on June 28 (reftel),the courthouse was flooded with hundreds
of chanting Ghad Party supporters with hundreds of riot
police containing but mainly tolerating them. The atmosphere
in and out of the courtroom was tense and chaotic, but
somewhat calmer than on opening day. Poloff and a European
diplomat were among at least 100 observers crammed into the
court room.


3. (SBU) After the usual lengthy delays, and several
screaming matches involving Nour's lawyers, lawyers for the
other defendants, police, and court officers, the session
eventually got underway in the late morning. About one hour
into the session, Ayman Ismail Hassan, "defendant number
three," recanted the guilty plea he had entered at the June
28 opening of the trial. From the defendants' cage, Hassan
told the bench he had been pressured by prosecutors to
cooperate by pleading guilty and testifying against Nour.
Hassan said that he was promised that his criminal record
would be expunged if he cooperated and threatened that, if he
did not, two of his nieces would be arrested and charged as
codefendants.


4. (SBU) Hassan's surprise testimony stunned the courtroom,
including, apparently, the three-judge panel, which abruptly
withdrew to chambers. Nour's supporters erupted into cheers,
chanting "Allahu Akbar!" (God is great). Gamila Ismail,
Nour's wife and fellow Ghad Party activist, was also
ecstatic. "They can't possibly keep the case going!" she
exclaimed to poloff and several journalists.


5. (SBU) After a long recess, the judges returned and
adjourned the case until July 6. Nour, who had placed a
sticker for "Kifaya" ("Enough"- the rallying cry of the
eclectic Egyptian Movement for Change) on the wall behind him
in the defendants' cage, remained locked up, first speaking
to journalists and eventually banging on the cage and
demanding to be released. After about half an hour, Nour
made his way out of the courthouse amid an intense shoving
match between riot police and the Ghad Party supporters who
had swarmed the courthouse.


6. (SBU) In front of the court, Nour climbed on top of a
vehicle, posed for the press, and exclaimed "if any
supporters are hurt today, the government and the security
establishment will pay a high price!" Nour's statement
referred to the death of June 28 of Ghad Party activist
Khalil al-Utaybi during the chaotic demonstrations that
characterized the trial's opening day. The Ghad Party's
official newspaper described Utaybi as a "martyr who died at
the hands of security" during the June 28 demonstrations,
while other media reports said that Utaybi had suffered a
heart attack.


7. (C) Comment: Ayman Nour and his supporters contend the
case against him was politically motivated from the outset,
with the aim not of serving justice but of eliminating a
provocative political opponent. Nour's strategy is to use
the trial, and the defendants' cage, as a bully pulpit from
which to embarass the regime and present himself as Egypt's
principal alternative to Mubarak. Indeed, the defense called
as witnesses the Ministers of Interior and Justice, as well
as the Speaker of the Parliament, on its opening day. Also
on opening day, Nour told the court he welcomed the
opportunity to disclose his finances and urged the President
and his family to do the same.


8. (C) Comment continued: Nour's presentation of himself as
Egypt's principal opposition leader is viewed by many as
presumptuous, and many, including those critical of the GOE's
case against him, also harbor doubts about Nour's integrity
and political viability. While Nour, his supporters, and
others see the trial as a symbol of government oppression and
resistance to democracy, the presence of loud, boisterous,
and sometimes aggressive anti-regime protestors at the site
is also a sign of the times. As recently as two years ago,
open criticism of Mubarak was considered a red line crossed
at one's peril. Today street protests featuring pointed
anti-regime rhetoric have become almost routine on Cairo's
streets. End comment.


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