Police attacked Cairo demonstrators Thursday rallying in support of two pro-reform judges who had been hauled before a disciplinary board for accusing the judiciary of helping fix elections.
The hearing, which lasted an hour, was adjourned until May 11, but reformist activists condemned the police crackdown, charging that President Hosni Mubarak's government was once more employing strong-arm tactics.
Thousands of police had been deployed across Cairo Thursday ahead of the hearing by a disciplinary board against Mahmud Mekki and Hisham al-Bastawissi, two of the most outspoken reformists in the judges' syndicate.
A group of a few hundred activists camped outside the court to support the two judges were assaulted by police. Some of them were beaten with sticks and an undetermined number arrested.
"Judges are our voice against dictatorship," chanted the protestors. "Police are oppressing us" and "With God's help, the judges do not fear anybody," went some of the slogans.
Activists were snatched off the street by police even before they reached the block which houses a number of courts and the syndicates for the country's journalists, judges and lawyers, witnesses said.
"The Egyptian people have already given their verdict," Bastawissi said after the hearing. "This army of policemen surrounding the court is proof that the truth spoken by the judges will vanquish all security forces."
Similar clashes took place late Wednesday, during which one judge was wounded and at least 14 members of the pro-reform Kefaya movement were detained as they demonstrated in solidarity with the two judges.
Among the protestors was Kamal Khalil, one of the most prominent activists from the movement that staged an unprecedented wave of street demonstrations in 2005 calling for the resignation of Mubarak, who has dominated Egyptian politics for more than two decades.
Only two years ago, street protests in Cairo were almost unimaginable, but Mubarak loosened his iron grip on the state amid pressure from Washington to allow greater political freedom in Egypt.
Many rights groups and intellectuals have given their whole hearted support to the two judges, who had accused pro-government judges of helping to fix the November-December parliamentary polls that saw Mubarak's ruling party retain power.
Egypt's judges, who are responsible for supervising the polling process, have become a symbol of the drive for reform in Egypt and are waging an aggressive campaign to demand more independence from the executive.
Activists reacted angrily to Thursday's crackdown by the police.
"This display of force is a return to the policies of oppression and to a police state," said Mohammed Sayed Said, who was among a group of intellectuals supporting the judges which also included filmmaker Yusef Chahine.
"But all this will not succeed in reimposing a culture of fear. The people have already defeated it and they are ready to pay with their blood for democratic change," he said.
US-based Human Rights Watch on Wednesday urged the Egyptian regime to investigate the fraud that marred the poll and stop intimidating the judges who reported it.
"The government is punishing judges just for doing their job," said Joe Stork, deputy director of HRWs Middle East and North Africa programme.
"It should be investigating the widespread evidence of voter intimidation, not shooting the messengers who reported the fraud."
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