CAIRO, May 18 (UPI) -- Former presidential challenger Ayman Nour will serve out the rest of his five year, hard-labor prison sentence for forgery, but two judges who challenged the government by claiming fraud in the last election will keep their jobs, Egyptian courts ruled Thursday in a day which mixed failure with some shreds of hope for Egypt's pro-democracy movement.
The verdict for the judges, who view their battle as part of a larger fight for an independent judiciary in Egypt, was taken as a sign by some analysts and pro-reform forces here that while the government is showing little tolerance for outside forces calling for change, it can no longer completely withstand the pressure within its own ranks for reform.
"It is a victory for the judges, but not a triumph," said Ashraf El-Baroudi, a judge from Alexandria. "The fact that both men will remain in their post suggest that the traditional principle that judges must stay silent about corruption and cannot talk to the media is weakening. It is a sign of progress."
Outside the court, however, the scene was grim. Thousands of riot police sealed off much of the downtown area as the court opened for its morning session. Black-clad riot police and plain-clothes police attacked protesters with sticks. Some 240 protesters from the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's banned but powerful Islamist opposition group, were arrested, including two of the group's leading members.
A similar hard-line was taken against Nour, who came in a distant second place in last September's presidential election. Nour, 41, was convicted of forging signatures on party registration petitions last year in a case he says was trumped up to destroy him politically. U.S. diplomats and human rights organizations have agreed with Nour's analysis and called for his release.
After the court denied his request for an appeal Thursday, his wife, Gamila Ismael, fought tears as she told reporters that her last hope for freeing her husband from prison was now gone.
"He will have to be patient in prison," she said. "And we as the modern opposition here will have to keep struggling. Five years is enough time to give the presidency to Gamal Mubarak, the president's son. It is the seat my husband could have won."
Few Egyptian journalists showed interest in the Nour trial, but dozens of local cameramen and reporters followed the dramatic scene that unfolded when hundreds of judges and lawyers stormed through security lines to show their support for the two judges facing disciplinary action, Hisham Bastawisi and Mahmoud Mekki.
The judges swirled through the court's hallways and demanded rows of riot police posted inside the court be removed. They then occupied a large, wood paneled library and awaited the results of the trial while calling for solidarity with the demonstrators outside.
"The willingness of the people to get beaten and arrested outside this court shows that there is a strong belief in the hearts of the people for judicial freedom, as strong as it is for judges," said Mekki, surrounded by supporters. "And it negates the government's argument that Egypt's people are passive with no political awareness."
Bestawisi, who suffered a serious heart attack Wednesday, remained in intensive care and was not present. Mekki refused to enter the hearing room to show support for the hundreds of peaceful demonstrators who remain in prison for backing the judges since April, he said. Both judges are senior members of the Cassation Court, Egypt's highest judicial body.
The gathered judges showed mixed emotions when Mekki was acquitted and Bestawisi was found guilty of defaming the judiciary, but only received a reprimand. Mekki said the group would fight to overturn the guilty verdict, which they said was illegally issued in Bestawisi's absence.
Some political analysts yesterday said they were surprised by the outcome of the two cases: it had been widely predicted that Nour's appeal would be granted and the judges would be dismissed.
Mohammed Habib, the deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood, told reporters yesterday that he felt the judges' success showed that while the regime had decided to repress political movements, it was less certain about what to do about dissention within its own ranks.
"They backed down (on the judges)," he said. "They could see it was a case they couldn't win."
