EGYPT - May 11 - Egypt Takes Harder Line On Street Protests.

Security forces beat activists and arrested journalists in Cairo during protests in support of judges facing a disciplinary committee for criticising election abuses last year. One of the largest protests was by some 300 members of the illegal Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest opposition force. Thousands of riot police, armed with sticks and shields, sealed off main streets near the High Court, disrupting traffic in the heart of the capital. The sight of riot police bringing traffic in central Cairo to a standstill has become familiar over the past year as groups of activists defy the ban on demonstrations and take to the streets shouting slogans against President Hosni Mubarak. On several occasions the protesters have been beaten by plainclothes policemen but most demonstrations have passed off peacefully. Activists arrested during the more heated protests were usually released after a few hours. But 15 months after Mubarak announced that he was inaugurating a new era of political reform, the authorities are cracking down on dissent and signalling that they have reached the end of the limited tolerance they displayed during presidential and parliamentary elections last year. Over the past two weeks about 100 people have been detained, half of them from the Muslim Brotherhood. They were campaigning for an end to the emergency law that has been in effect for 25 years and which has just been renewed for a further two years. The rest of the detainees were democracy activists who are now in custody after having been charged with insulting the president and participating in illegal gatherings. Some were beaten before being dragged away in police cars". I see a trend of more violence. The government line now is, 'We don't care. We will do whatever we want'", said Aida Seif Al Dawla, a doctor who campaigns against torture. Most of the democracy activists arrested were at demonstrations held in support of judges who have emerged as the most significant force calling for reforms aimed at ensuring honest elections and an independent judiciary. Two senior judges who spoke out against fraud in last year's elections are appearing on May 11 before a disciplinary tribunal to which they have been referred by the justice minister. Judges Hesham Bastawisi and Mahmoud Mekki face dismissal if the tribunal upholds complaints against them by colleagues alleging that they smeared them by suggesting that some judges were complicit in election-rigging. The two have been active in the Judges' Club, an elected professional organisation that has been defying the government by pressing openly for legislation that would insulate the judiciary from pressure exerted by the powerful executive. To protest at the action taken against Bastawisi and Mekki, judges have been staging a sit-in at the premises of the club for the past three weeks in an unprecedented challenge to the authorities. They have become a rallying point for democracy activists frustrated at the flimsiness of the government's reform steps. The new tough line on street protests, argues Aida Seif Al Dawla, is a reaction to the revolt of the judges and the sympathy that has aroused. "They are more insecure", she said. "The defiance of the judges is a big problem because usually they are not a politically active institution". Mubarak has denied that the government is involved in the attempt to punish the judges, saying it was an internal matter for the judiciary. But the crisis with the judges, the skirmishes and the violence against the protesters are feeding into a general perception that the promised political reforms are a mirage. Officials insist, however, that the government remains serious about reform. "There are many signs of our commitment to reform", said Gamal Mubarak, the son of the president and a leading official in the ruling party. "There is no hesitancy, no lapsing or going back". The younger Mubarak, who denies that he is being groomed to succeed his father, pointed to plans to amend the electoral system and to replace the emergency law with narrowly focused anti-terrorist legislation. But the promises have yet to convince those calling for reform. "The emergency law is there to suppress opposition", said Nasser Amin, who heads a human rights group. "I don't believe there will be changes to its substance, only to its name".