CAIRO, May 17 (UPI) -- One of two Egyptian judges facing dismissal for alleging that fraud took place in last year's parliamentary elections had a serious heart attack last night and is in critical condition, Egyptian doctors reported Wednesday.
Judge Hisham Bastawisi, a 25-year veteran of the bench, was rushed to Cleopatra Hospital in the Heliopolis neighborhood of Cairo early this morning. He arrived in full cardiac arrest and underwent an operation in which a stint was placed into his heart.
Judge Bastawisi, a slight, bespectacled man, was interviewed by this reporter yesterday. He said was just doing his job by calling for investigations into the actions of five of his colleagues, whom he and other judges say rigged the final vote counts in counting stations in last November's parliamentary elections.
He and a majority of Egypt's 8,000 judges are also asking for legal reforms in Egypt that would lead to an independent judiciary. Egypt is an authoritarian, single-party state under President Hosni Mubarak.
"I have faith in what I am asking for. I'm sure I am right. I want my country to be a free country, a liberal country. We deserve a democracy, like we had before 1952," he said.
The case has galvanized public sentiment here, leading to an escalating series of protests and clashes with riot police. More than 255 protesters from across the political spectrum remain in prison.
The two judges, Bastawisi and Mahmoud Mekki, have been charged with defaming the judiciary for talking to the media about fraud in the last election. A disciplinary court was due to give a verdict last Thursday, but the two judges refused to enter the courtroom after more than 10,000 soldiers and police sealed off a large section of Cairo around the courthouse and beat and arrested hundreds of activists demonstrating in their support.
Judge Bastawisi was under a great deal of strain, facing losing his job with three children in university. He and his wife were also being harassed by security forces, who attempted to entrap and photograph them in situations meant to appear embarrassing sexually. He said he was considering going to Europe to file an appeal on human rights grounds if he was fired.
"This is the first time to accuse a judge in the Cassation Court because he is asking for reform and asking for investigation about fraud in elections," Bastawisi said.
President Mubarak has called the case an internal matter between judges and said he will not intervene. Analysts here say the government's hard line against the judges is part of a larger overall crackdown on pro-democracy forces in Egypt since the parliamentary elections last year.
Civil society forces have rallied around the case of the two judges, and many groups had been planning to risk arrest to demonstrate in front of Egypt's High Court tomorrow.
"The government is surprised that the Egyptian people understand how important it is to have an independent judiciary and good elections," Bastawisi said. "The people want to support two judges who are talking to them frankly, honestly. They believe us. They know that we are defending their rights, so they have to defend us."
