Judicial Immunity in Egypt: A Shield or a Breeding Ground for Corruption?

Picture of Tarek G-hafiz

Tarek G-hafiz

Official documents and papers, exclusively obtained by Zawia3, reveal the referral of a chief judge in a terrorism court at Badr Courthouse to criminal prosecution after he impersonated a police officer and kidnapped an engineer at a major computer company. He exploited the security forces assigned to protect him, as a terrorism court judge, to carry out his crimes, convincing the victim that he was a police officer who intended to arrest him. The judge allegedly coerced the engineer into transferring money to an overseas account, threatening him with imprisonment and harm to his family in collusion with his friend, the head of the computer company where the engineer was employed. The incident unveils types of corruption within Egypt’s own justice system. So, what exactly happened in this case, and what are the details?

The case is registered under number 6589 for the year 2024 in the Criminal Court of Agouza Police Department and documented under number 14 for 2024 in the Cairo Appeals Prosecution’s investigation records. The defendants include Judge Mohamed Nabil Shafiq Abdelrahman, age 47, who served as a presiding judge in the Third Terrorism Court, and businessman Tamer Mohsen Mohamed El-Shorbagy, age 50, the general manager of “Metra Computer for Import and Export.”

According to the documented events, the terrorism court judge threatened the victim, Engineer Osama Shaaban Mohamed, age 37 and employed as an electrical communications engineer at Metra Computer. Case details, based on official documents, indicate that in March, the engineer was summoned to an administrative hearing after being accused by the second defendant and the company owners of embezzling funds. The engineer recounts in his testimony that he was shocked to see the chief judge (the first defendant) arrive with security guards, one of whom wore official police attire. Claiming to be police officers, they proceeded to detain the engineer, search his office and car, and then escorted him to a security vehicle (a Nissan) followed by a police car outside the company’s premises. According to his statement, he was released only after being forced to transfer funds to an account owned by a friend of Judge Mohamed’s residing in the UAE (the judge admitted in his testimony to transferring 70,000 EGP from the victim’s account to his friend’s bank account).

Confession

The judge did not stop at attempting to forge documents or abuse his authority to collect money from citizens unlawfully. He also sought to use the police security team assigned to him to carry out these tasks, revealing deep-seated corruption. According to statements from the security and escort team during the prosecution’s investigation, they were assigned to escort the defendant judge to the Badr Criminal Court in security and police vehicles. However, they were surprised when the judge deviated from the usual route, heading instead to the company involved in the incident. The security team stated that he requested their assistance in visiting the company and then instructed them to head to Suez Road. It was established that the armored vehicle, a Nissan Patrol with license plate (YA-O 914), was from the General Administration of Special Police and was assigned on the incident date to transport the first defendant (the third terrorism court judge at Badr Criminal Court) to the court, with security assigned accordingly.

The documents also reveal that the judge served in the Third Terrorism Court at Badr during the fourth week of March 2024, from March 23 to March 27. He left the country on April 19, 2024, after the victim reported the incident to the relevant authorities and investigations began, likely fleeing to avoid exposure and arrest. On July 4, 2024, the Minister of Justice issued Decree No. 3474 of 2024, accepting the resignation of the terrorism court judge effective May 19, 2024, after his absence from work for 30 consecutive days and removing his name from the judicial and prosecutorial registry.

The Public Prosecution charged the judge with kidnapping Osama by deception and impersonating a public official. He is accused of posing as a police officer and detaining the victim without any official government authorization or mandate. Additionally, he is accused of extortion by threatening the victim with imprisonment and personal harm to his family and of illegally obtaining funds.

According to our findings, the judge was involved in numerous cases classified as terrorism in the terrorism court, including protest and violence cases. In one prominent case on February 26, 2023, he sentenced an activist to three years of rigorous imprisonment in the high-profile “Mohamed Mahmoud Incidents” case, where the defendant and others were charged with setting a police vehicle on fire and killing a recruit during protests on Mohamed Mahmoud Street in May 2013. On July 30, 2023, he issued sentences of five years’ rigorous imprisonment for two defendants, three years for 16 others, and one year with labor for four others, with police surveillance imposed for the duration of their sentences. These sentences were related to the “Salam Unrest Incidents,” where defendants were accused of using fireworks, rioting in Salam, and spreading disorder.

Escape

Zawia3 went to Engineer Osama’s residence in Nasr City to speak with him, but he was not there. We met the building guard, Shaaban, who confirmed that Osama had left the country with his family.

The guard noted that the victim had withdrawn his children from Egyptian schools and relocated them abroad along with his wife, fearing retaliation from the accused judge through his connections and influence, which had been rumored during the investigation process about two months ago. He added that police detectives had previously visited to investigate the victim before referring the accused and his accomplice for criminal prosecution.

In response, human rights lawyer Nasser Amin, head of the Justice Support Foundation at the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession, told Zawia3 that the case, which Zawia3 is exclusively reporting, is the first known incident involving a judge in Egypt’s terrorism courts since their formation. Amin stressed that authorities must pursue action against him despite his escape abroad.

Amin raised several questions surrounding the incident, which cast doubt and raise concerns that the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Judicial Council should address. These questions include: “How did the accused judge manage to leave the country before legal action was taken against him, and why was there a delay in acting against him that allowed him to flee abroad through official channels via the airport? Who allowed him to travel despite the severity of the charges in a case of this magnitude?”

Amin continued that the Ministry of Justice must disclose the actions taken to arrest him or seek his extradition via Interpol after notifying them. He also called on the Supreme Judicial Council to clarify the steps taken regarding the judge’s case, noting that it has been rumored within judicial and legal circles that the accused judge was sent on assignment abroad. Amin urged Egyptian authorities to cooperate with Interpol to place him on the red notice list of wanted individuals. Swift and decisive actions are necessary due to the serious nature of the incident, which undermines the integrity of the judiciary and the crime committed.

The Justice Support Foundation’s chairman added that, over the years, several judges have been implicated in corruption and criminal charges, with the Supreme Judicial Council typically addressing such incidents swiftly by deeming the implicated judges unfit for office (a term used when a judge is dismissed after proven guilt, rendering them unfit for judicial work) and limiting the response to dismissal or initiating criminal proceedings against them. He pointed out that the increasing disregard for the rule of law across various fields over the last decade has created a fertile environment for such crimes, particularly among those entrusted with enforcing or applying the law.

In a similar vein, lawyer Mohamed Hamed Salem, who specializes in appeals and constitutional law, explained that the expected punishment for the judge in light of the charges referred to criminal prosecution, under the provisions of the Egyptian Penal Code, particularly Article 155, states: “Anyone who impersonates a public official, whether civilian or military, without official authorization or government permission or performs an act as part of such a role, shall be punished with imprisonment.” Additionally, Article 290 of the same code states: “Anyone who kidnaps a person by deceit or force shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a minimum of ten years. If the abduction is accompanied by a ransom demand, the punishment shall be rigorous imprisonment for a minimum of 15 years and not exceeding 20 years.”

Salem added that, if proven, the case first exposed by Zawia3 would result in the judge facing the most severe punishment, with rigorous imprisonment ranging from 15 to 20 years, in accordance with Article 32 of the Penal Code. This article states: “If a single act constitutes multiple offenses, the penalty for the most severe offense shall apply. If several crimes are committed with a single objective and are inseparable, they shall be considered a single crime, and the penalty for the most serious crime shall apply.”

Salem noted that in recent years, Egypt has seen instances where some judges have committed financial crimes, drug trafficking, and bribery, shocking the public, as judges are seen as the guardians of justice. He warned that judges must avoid criminal conduct to maintain public trust in the justice system. He suggested that this trend is on the rise, and that oversight bodies must tackle it forcefully, given its negative impact on society and investment in Egypt. He called for a comprehensive review of the causes, whether stemming from greed, a propensity for corruption, or unchecked power, which leads some to believe they are above accountability, forming a “state within a state.”

The lawyer argued that combating corruption requires judges to retire at age 60 and to eliminate the networks that have entrenched familial dominance in the judiciary, creating a web of favoritism and influence conflicts. “It’s time to cleanse the judicial institution of anyone who exploits it for crime, fortified by their immunity,” he stated. He called for judicial oversight to be applied to all judges without exception, including periodic background checks, asset declarations, and drug testing every five years at minimum to fully eradicate this corruption.

This raises questions about illegal practices committed by judiciary officials over the past decade, with Zawia3 documenting 31 cases through data analysis.

Corruption Incidents

Corruption among judges is not new. Zawia3’s research identified about 31 corruption cases over the past decade, with some cases involving multiple judges or consultants. Based on the database compiled from cases reported in Egyptian publications like Al-Masry Al-Youm, Al-Shorouk, Al-Fajr, Zat Masr, Al-Manassa, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Arabi 21, and the Egyptian Gazette, it was found that 14 cases, representing 45.1%, involved judges and consultants engaging in prohibited business activities, corruption, and breaches of judicial conduct that rendered them unfit for the judiciary. Additionally, seven cases, or 22.6%, were linked to illegal profiteering, illicit gains, and accepting bribes from businessmen and defendants in exchange for favorable rulings. According to the analysis, 13% of cases involved judges accused of illegal antiquities trafficking, totaling four cases, while 6.5% of cases involved non-consensual sexual relations, including two cases of rape and forced customary marriage. Another 3.2% were related to illicit financial gains, and another 3.2% to murder charges.

Among the most notable cases is the conviction of Judge Sami Mahmoud Ali Abdelrahim, who served as a presiding judge with significant political case rulings at the Ismailia Appeals Court. On August 21, 2022, the Port Said Criminal Court convicted him of accepting bribes from businessmen and drug and arms dealers in exchange for favorable rulings, issuing a cumulative 24-year prison sentence and a fine of 3.61 million EGP. He passed away recently in prison due to health issues while serving his sentence.

One of Abdelrahim’s most prominent political sentences was against Mohamed Badie, General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, along with Brotherhood leaders Mohamed Beltagy and Islamic preacher Safwat Hegazy, sentencing them to life imprisonment (25 years), as well as sentencing 28 others to 10 years and placing them under police surveillance for the same period in the high-profile case known as the “Al-Arab Police Station Incidents.” He also sentenced the infamous defendant Adel Habara to death for the murder of a police officer in Abu Kabir, Sharqia Governorate.

On June 18, 2022, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Judge Ahmed Abdel-Fattah Hassan, a former Council of State judge, to five years of rigorous imprisonment after convicting him and his wife of trafficking antiquities, as they were found to possess 1,384 artifacts in their Zamalek apartment in the high-profile “Zamalek Antiquities Apartment” case.

Last month, the Public Funds Prosecution referred Judge Sherif Edward Ghaly Botros Al-Dahaby, head of North Cairo Civil Court Circuit 62 and son of former State Lawsuits Authority President Judge Edward Ghaly Botros Al-Dahaby, to criminal trial. He was accused of manipulating two judicial rulings to benefit businessmen, including prominent businessman Mahmoud Hosni Al-Din, board member of the Federation of Commercial Industries and chairman of Royal International Chemicals. The charges include the illicit gain of government benefits worth over 50 million EGP by changing 107 licenses from residential to commercial.

In another case, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced a judge and his two friends to 15 years of rigorous imprisonment for luring and kidnapping a woman in Marina, North Coast, on December 8-9, 2020, and sexually assaulting her. The investigation revealed that the defendants exploited the woman’s need for a job, tricking her into attending a fake work-related conference, only to force their way into her room and assault her. In a previous incident, two judges and an officer were referred to trial for their involvement in a large-scale antiquities trafficking scheme worth approximately $1.2 billion. They attempted to smuggle the artifacts using vehicles driven by the officer, bypassing security checkpoints by exploiting his official position.

On March 16, 2023, a presidential decree (No. 87 of 2023) removed Judge Mohamed Fetouh El-Sayed Allam, president of the Ismailia Appeals Court, from his position due to his involvement in land trade, exploiting his judicial authority, fraud, and forgery against senior official bodies. Among his victims was a Saudi royal family member.

Judges’ Salaries

Sociology professor Samia Khodr from Ain Shams University believes there has been a shift in the profile of criminals within society, with crimes now being committed by influential individuals, including judges and consultants. She notes that crimes are now being perpetrated by people of stature who would not typically be expected to commit such acts.

In her discussion with Zawia3, she states, “The focus today has shifted to money in a way that borders on an obsession. I reject the notion of justifying crime as a result of rampant inflation, as global inflation is widespread, yet we do not see this elsewhere.” She attributes the trend to individual traits.

Samia believes that society has lost its positive role models, neglecting moral teachings and narratives of virtuous behavior, which has significantly contributed to the spread of crime. She pointed to hasty decisions that further harm society, such as the Minister of Education’s recent cancellation of psychology and sociology courses, deeming them unnecessary.

Judges’ salaries have doubled over the last decade, starting in 2014 and 2015, when salaries ranged from 11,300 EGP to 38,000 EGP. According to reports at the time, assistant prosecutors received 11,300 EGP, assistant prosecutors 12,000 EGP, senior prosecutors 13,000 EGP, chief prosecutors 14,300 EGP, “B” level judges 15,800 EGP, “A” level judges 17,000 EGP, appellate court judges 21,000 EGP, deputy heads of appellate courts 25,000 EGP, chief appellate judges 30,000 to 35,000 EGP, senior judges 27,000 EGP, deputy senior judges 33,000 to 38,000 EGP, depending on seniority.

Annual bonuses and incentives continued, with the latest documented in 2022 as a special bonus for judges and prosecutors, according to a “confidential document” obtained by us. For example, the chief of the Court of Cassation received 8,100 EGP, 7,500 EGP for deputy heads of the court and chief appellate judges, and 6,700 EGP for those under age 60. Cassation and appeal judges received 5,450 EGP, senior judges 5,240 EGP, “A” level primary court judges 5,200 EGP, “B” level judges 4,600 EGP, and junior judges 3,750 EGP, with assistant prosecutors receiving 3,400 EGP.

Furthermore, an additional month’s basic salary and five bonuses were issued for June 2015. Recent reports indicate that the average monthly salary for judges is approximately 30,000 EGP.

Economic expert Khaled Al-Shafie, head of the Capital Center for Economic Studies and Research, believes that salaries and economic hardships are not the primary reasons for these crimes. “These individuals enjoy a dignified life, high salaries, and benefits provided by the authorities compared to other job sectors,” he tells us.

He explains, “Regardless of motivation, crime exists across all times and places globally, with motives shaped by the environment, culture changes, and shifting priorities. Those who commit these crimes often experience intellectual, religious, mental, or psychological disturbances.”

Al-Shafie noted that wealthy individuals from various social strata also commit financial crimes, so economic hardship is not a valid justification. He emphasized that the absence of moral values is a primary driver, followed by other factors that might lead officials or citizens toward corruption.

In examining the documented cases, it is evident that judges and consultants often exploit “judicial immunity” to commit crimes. A review of Judicial Authority Law No. 46 of 1972, as amended by Law No. 77 of 2019, reveals that Article 96 states: “Except in cases of in flagrante delicto, a judge cannot be arrested or detained without permission from the Supreme Judicial Council as outlined in Article 94, nor can any investigative action be taken against them or a criminal case raised without permission from the council and a request from the Public Prosecutor.”

In the end, the question remains: how can judicial immunity genuinely protect a judge’s independence and prevent executive interference, while ensuring true oversight to prevent immunity from being abused to commit crimes?

Search