Othman Al-Hefnawi North Cairo Criminal Court decided on Sunday to postpone the trial of the 43 defendants in the case of NGO foreign funding till April 26, while the supporters of the defendants clapped and chanted: “Down with the military rule”.
This postponement took place in order to enable the lawyers of the suspects to examine the investigation documents, pay fees, and to prepare for the attendance of translators from the Ministry of Justice to interpret for the foreign suspects.
Lawyers as well had asked to postpone the session to examine the documents, call witnesses to discuss the case, in addition to calling for releasing the defendants in custody pending the case.
Prosecution lawyer Othman Al-Hefnawi demanded a temporary fine of 100,000 EGP, equivalent to 17,000 USD.
He said that “the principal charge is conspiring against the Egyptian people”, while the court requested a list of the names of civil rights plaintiffs.. Another lawyer said that this trial has put an end to the chaos in Egypt, calling for the maximum penalty against the defendants.
The trial that started Sunday accuses 43 defendants including 16 US citizens of illegal foreign funding to NGO’s. The Public Prosecution charged the accused of crimes related to establishing and administering branches of international organisations without licenses from the Egyptian government, as well as receiving and accepting foreign funding from outside the country for the purpose of running these branches, which constitutes violation of the sovereignty of the Egyptian state.
It is noteworthy that the court was adjourned after only five minutes.
In another context, a group of supporters of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman organised a protest in front of the premises of the same court, demanding the release of Abdel-Rahman who is detained in the US. They repeated chants calling for him to be swapped with the foreign prisoners in the above-mentioned case. They also raised  raised banners containing slogans supporting the political activist Mamdouh Hamza.