Egypt”s Prosecution to Ask for Death Penalty for Shihab, Lawyer Says Defendant “Coerced”
Egypt”s High State Security prosecution has asked for the death penalty for a Hizbullah member on charges of plotting attacks in the country with the purpose of "overthrowing the regime," according to Sunday press reports.
Defendant Mohammed Youssef Mansour, also known as Sami Shihab, was among 49 suspects arrested over the past five months and accused of plotting attacks in Egypt on behalf of Hizbullah. A claim the Lebanese group denied saying Shihab was responsible for helping transport arms to the Gaza Strip.
The pan-Arab daily al Hayat reported Sunday that during a hearing on Saturday Egypt”s High State Security prosecution "officially charged Mansour with joining a secret and illegal organization with the aim of overthrowing the regime, endangering public peace and abusing the law."
The charge sheet added that the "secret organization used terrorism as a means to achieve its goals," the paper reported. The group was also accused of "being in contact with a foreign organization identified as Hizbullah, providing it with censored information without prior authorization, receiving military and financial aid from a foreign party in violation of the law in addition to owning weapons and explosives with the aim of sowing fear among the public and committing crimes listed under the law."
The prosecution said it has completed quizzing Mansour and will complete its investigation with the remaining members of the cell at a later time before filing charges and referring them to trial.
Lawyer Montasser al-Zayat, who represented Mansour at the hearing, said the investigations were "null and void" since they were conducted at night with each session lasting for more than ten hours with no regard to the defendant”s "mental and physical state."
"The charges must be nullified since they were extracted under coercion against the defendant, who was jailed for more than five month in an illegal detention center," Zayat added. He said Mansour was not permitted to meet in private with his lawyer during the interrogation process.
Two other main suspects in the case identified as Nimr Fahmi and Nasser Abu Omar "have confessed to providing information about five Egyptian towns on the border with Egypt to Shihab and another Hizbullah fugitive Mohammed Qabalan," the pan –Arab al Sharq al Awsat said quoting sources.
The date included land and population surveys of the five towns in addition details on hospitals, schools and most prominent residents.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Geith said the case "will be dealt with by the Egyptian judiciary and will not be subject to political interference or mediation attempts."
For its part, the daily reported that Egypt has filed a lawsuit against al Manar demanding the Hizbullah-owned station to "stop using Egyptian broadcasting satellite Nilesat."
Nilesat is managed by the Egyptian Company for Broadcasting Satellite, which is controlled by the Interior Ministry.
The lawsuit also criticized Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for "insulting the government, the president and the people by allowing al Manar to broadcast fabricated news about Egypt."