MAGGIE MICHAEL | AP ARABNEWS
Thursday 11 October 2012
CAIRO: Egypt’s prosecutor general on Thursday defied his president’s order to step down to defuse public anger over acquittals in a case of brutality against protesters during last year’s uprising that topped the regime of Hosni Mubarak.
Critics charged President Muhammad Mursi with exceeding his mandate.
Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud was quoted by Egypt’s official news agency as saying that he will remain in his post. His brief statement came just hours after Mursi ordered him to leave his position as prosecutor general and become the ambassador to the Vatican.
In a comment to a news website, The Seventh Day, Mahmoud said, “I am upset” over Mursi’s order.
Egyptian law protects the prosecutor general from being ousted by the president, A judges’ club called for an emergency meeting to protest Mursi’s decree which they see as a blow to the judiciary.
Ahmed el-Zind, the head of the powerful association of judges, said that the judges will not bow to Mursi’s decision.
“This is a farce … we will not bow,” he said and added, “the era of tyrants is over.”