CAIRO: A widow of a former judge filed a lawsuit against the president of the Higher Judicial Council, demanding LE 1 million in compensation, after she was prevented from entering the Judges’ Club in Alexandria because she was wearing a full face veil (niqab).
It all began in 1996 when Hosneya Hamza Nasr Ghorab, widow of the former president of the appeals court Judge Mohamed Ghorab, was prevented from entering the club over a sign that said those wearing the niqab were “not allowed.
She then filed a lawsuit demanding the quashing of that rule, and in 1999 the Administrative Court ruled in her favor.
The Higher Administrative Court did not rule in her favor until October 2007, allowing her entry into the club.
Ghorab claims to have suffered financial and emotional distress as a result of the incident.
“My son and I were deprived of the benefits and services the club offers for 11 years, she said.
Mohamed Eid Salem, secretary general of the Higher Judicial Council, told Daily News Egypt that the rule disallowing women wearing the niqab entry was set by Chancellor Moqbel Shaker, the incumbent president of the Higher Judicial Council, and who was the Judges’ Club president at the time.
Implementing the court verdict lies within the responsibility of the club’s current president, he explained.
Ghorab is being represented by her son, lawyer Nezar Ghorab, who is also representing Tarek and Aboud El-Zomour currently held for the assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat.
