Eissa no longer to be tried in Emergency Court

Following up on this post from a few days ago, the office of the General Prosecutor has decided not to try al-Destour editor Ibrahim Eissa in a State Security Emergency Court:

CAIRO, Egypt: Egypt's prosecutor general reversed a decision to send an outspoken tabloid newspaper editor who questioned President Hosni Mubarak's health to the country's emergency court of no appeal, a judiciary official said Friday.

Al-Dustour editor Ibrahim Eissa will instead face a regular criminal court where appeals are possible on Oct. 1, said the judicial official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. He did not elaborate on the reasons why the prosecutor general reversed the decision.

One can only come to the conclusion that pursuing the trial in an Emergency court would be unnecessarily hurtful to what remains of Egypt's image. The decision must have come from up high.