The Revolutionary Socialists respond to confiscation of leading activists’ assets

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

Down with the corrupt judges … Down with military rule

Al-Sisi’s Ministry of Justice – which has no idea what “justice” even means –  issued a decision to seize the assets and possessions of a number of comrades from the Revolutionary Socialists, 6th of April Youth Movement and Youth for Justice and Freedom Movement who are named among a list of 112 individuals charged with belonging to a “terrorist organisation”.

This follows a previous ruling by the military government which declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation without any genuine decision in a court of law! At the time we warned that accusations of terrorism made against the Brotherhood today would be extended to all the opposition tomorrow. This is what has happened.

The comrades who have been targeted by this ruling, Hisham Fouad, Haitham Mohamedain, Amr Ali and Khaled al-Sayyed are revolutionary activists who have given their all to the cause of the revolution, expending every effort on behalf of the poor and oppressed. They have dedicated their lives to the victory of the 25 January Revolution and of their other comrades who are suffering torture and abuse in the military’s jails. They have gained nothing from their struggles except abuse and persecution by the state and its institutions.

The military’s judges who issued this ruling have already been disgraced by their blatant malpractice. How can they be trusted, even for an instant, after Al-Sisi’s office intervened to ensure they exonerated a criminal officer who killed 37 citizens in cold blood in a prison van? How can we believe judges who issue death sentences against hundreds of defendants in single sitting, some of whom were simply accused of blocking the road!

Of course, the same judges who let Mubarak get off scot free, along with his gang of thieves who looted the country’s wealth and murderers who spilt the blood of the masses in the squares, are those who cover up for the corrupt and protect the torturers from prosecution and who hurl abuse and repression at the opposition. These corrupt judges serve only the interests of the counter-revolution and do not know the meaning of “justice”.

We, the Revolutionary Socialists, will continue in our struggle until the day that the oppressed and poor masses of the Egyptian people take back the wealth which the thieving generals, businessmen and judges stole from them through corruption and exploitation. As for the “assets” of the poor, including the comrades against whom this ruling is issued, they have long had nothing left to forfeit except their lives and liberty.

We demand the following:

• Repeal all death sentences issued since the military coup
• Repeal all sentences issued under the unconstitutional protest law and immediately release all detainees
• Repeal the protest law
• Issue a new law on trade union freedoms and end harassment of the independent unions and workers’ leaders
• Retry Mubarak and his gang on charges of murder and corruption

Glory to the martyrs – Freedom for the detainees

The Revolutionary Socialists

5 January 2015