Egypt embraces injustice and drifts further away from democracy

The power of any legal system is built on its legitimacy.  The Law is an intangible force that must balance the broad interests of a People to offer them protection from the misdeeds of others and honor their rights.  In other words, people only respect and obey the Law when it serves to protect them from the abuse of others and entities like their government.  When a legal system fails to do this over time or blatantly disregards the interests of the People, or even a segment of the People, it loses legitimacy and becomes little more than propaganda machine offering superficial rationales for the abuse of those damned by those in power.

The mass sentencing of 529 Muslim Brotherhood defendants to death in an Egyptian court for an attack on a police station, which resulted in the death of one, is a disconcerting example demonstrating the military-controlled Egyptian government using the judiciary to suppress political rivals.  The Western standard for justice hinges on the ability of an accused to have proper representation in the courtroom and proper review of the facts involved in the case.  For the death penalty, this irreversible sentence demands even greater care and stronger advocacy.  With 529 defendants being judged and 529 airtight cases needing to be offered by prosecutors, there is no way the Egyptian legal system has met any kind of standard or sense of justice, especially given lawyers were not allowed to be present, the trial lasted two days, and 120 of the accused were not present. 

That said, nations, whether democratic or not, succeed only when they provide structure, i.e. have a constitution that adequately reflects the interests of the People.  Beyond the horror of the Egyptian government sentencing 529 people to death with such loose standards and weak justifications, especially considering this case has a political element to it, this incident exemplifies the self-serving, abusive nature of those in power.  It also suggests the vision of democracy in Egypt is far from reality.  Sadly, it is becoming ever more apparent that the Egyptian military’s refusal to fire on protestors in the 2010-2011 Arab Spring protests and support of then-President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster was simply a strategic decision to prevent the Egyptian military from ripping itself apart and losing the support of the Egyptian People.  Instead of supporting democracy and the Egyptian People, the Egyptian military is choosing to serve its interests as it reasserts full control over the Egyptian People.