Muslim Brotherhood military trial resumes in Egypt without outside observers News
Muslim Brotherhood military trial resumes in Egypt without outside observers

[JURIST] The military trial of 40 senior members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood [party website; FAS backgrounder] resumed in Egypt Sunday despite criticism [press release] from Amnesty International [advocacy website] regarding the country's failure to allow independent observers into the courtroom. Amnesty also questioned the government's use of a military court to try civilians, saying that "Military courts cannot be seen as independent and impartial tribunals."

The 40 defendants, including Khairat al-Shatir [BBC report], deputy guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, have been charged with terrorism and money-laundering. They were initially acquitted of all charges in January in a criminal court in Cairo, but were rearrested shortly after their release. The Muslim Brotherhood holds 88 seats in the 454-seat Egyptian parliament and is the largest opposition party. Its members run officially as independents because the Muslim Brotherhood has been banned in Egypt since 1954. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Georgia became first US state to ban lynching

On December 20, 1893, Georgia became the first state in the Union to pass a law against lynching, making the act punishable by four years in prison. The statute was not particularly effective—read the text of the 1899 pamphlet Lynch Law in Georgia by anti-lynching activist Ida Wells-Barnett.