The Alexandria Military Court postponed on Monday the seventh session for 26 workers at the Alexandria Shipyard Company following hearing witness testimonies.

Defence lawyer Mohamed Awad explained that the court ordered that the detention of the workers be renewed and the trial postponed until the testimonies of the head of the company’s union committee and the defence are heard.

The court listened to nine workers’ testimonies about the accusations levelled at the 26 workers in total. They stand accused of inciting their colleagues to protest on 23 May at the company headquarters and refusing to work in the military institution, but the workers denied this claim.

25 workers were present at the court session to provide their testimonies as witnesses to the case.

From 22 to 23 May, a group of 26 workers arranged an open sit-in in the hope that the company’s management would respond to demands that they had previously put forward but had been ignored.

As the strike escalated, workers were barred from entering their place of work and military units were deployed.

The workers are standing trial in a military court since, as of 2007, the Alexandria Shipyard Company falls under the supervision and administration of the Ministry of Defence and Military Production.

The company stands as one of the 1960s’ main industrial projects in Alexandria in the maritime field and is one of the several economic projects that are controlled by the Egyptian Armed Forces.