US embassy cable - 05CAIRO4981

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, Ayman Nour 
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. 
 
 
Visit Embassy Cairo's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/cairo 
 
You can also access this site through the 
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. 
CORBIN