Maat calls for the appointment of an investigating judge to re-adjust the charges contained in the referral decision in the Al-Salam 98 case

The Maat Center expresses its regret at the loss of the rights of the families of the victims of the phrase “Al Salam 98”, after the “Misdemeanor” Court in Safaga acquitted five accused and sentenced a suspended prison sentence to one suspect involved in the sinking of the ferry, in an accident that ended in the death of 1034 souls and the injury of 377 people during its trip From the Saudi port of Daba to the Egyptian coast in February 2006.

The verdict of acquittal included Eng. Mamdouh Ismail, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the “Al Salam Maritime Transport” Company, which was operating the ferry, and his son and deputy Amr who were in London, Mamdouh Abdel Qader Orabi, director of the company's marine fleet, Nabil Al-Sayed Shalabi, director of the company’s branch in Safaga, and Imad al-Din Abu Talib, an engineer. The third company, while the case lapsed against 4 accused of their deaths, and the only prison sentence went to Captain Salah Jumaa, the captain of the ferry “Saint Catherine” who “failed” according to the ruling to rescue the passengers of the sunken ferry, and he was fined ten thousand pounds to stop the execution.

While the Center distanced itself from commenting on the judicial verdict, it reiterates its amazement at the referral of suspects in the case of “murder” to a misdemeanor court that will not issue a verdict for more than a few years if it is tightened, and the Egyptian government has not escaped from the suspicion of influencing the trial procedures to reach media and human rights accusations to some By arranging a legal adaptation of the case, it saves the higher interests from imprisonment or the appropriate punishment, which are accusations that no government agency has responded to as usual, until the Public Prosecutor issued the case to a misdemeanor court with a decision to refer the charges were adapted in a way from the Public Prosecution, to which some were directed Blame it on excluding the investigation of accusations, neglecting to hear the statements of witnesses, and the verification of a number of reports in support of its investigations.

The Center calls on the Egyptian Judiciary, after the Attorney General's appeal to the partial ruling, to re-assign the Public Prosecution to re-investigate a number of aspects of the neglected case, and to re-register and describe in a new referral decision that explicitly includes all the defendants deserving of trial, and these are powers that the appeals judge or the judge of cassation may refer to at least The Public Prosecutor also has the authority to assign an investigating judge to open the case papers file again, given that the charges existing in the legal conditioning of the Public Prosecution - headed by the Public Prosecutor appointed by a decision by the head of the executive authority - reach the highest stages of certifying the integrity of his investigations, and the Egyptian judiciary is also required to determine The person expressly responsible for compensating the families of the victims financially, in a way that prevents doubts about the feasibility of compensation for the loss of innocent souls and depriving their children and their families of them.