*Temporary retreat from evacuating peasants by the Beheira security apparatuses and Abu Khiar family in EZBET Moharam village

*The executive judge suspends a court ruling evacuating peasants of EZBET al-Baroudi village

*Peasants of EZBET Moharam village, Rahmaniyya district, Boheira governorate, said that Badr Abu Khiar – one of the area's influential figures— refrained from executing a court ruling in his favour. The ruling stipulated the evacuation of peasants from a number of feddans they bought from the General Authority for Agrarian Reform. Peasants have been cultivating the land since the 1950s and they paid the whole price to the General Authority for Agrarian Reform. It is worthy of mentioning that the land in concern was seized by the General Authority for Agrarian Reform among a 563 feddans owned by the deceased Mohammed Ashraf al-Baroudi. Yet a woman called Zeenat al-Baroudi claimed that the land was not seized, but put under sequestration – which implies from the legal viewpoint that the land could be handed over to original owners. The office of agrarian reform in Cairo and authority of land survey said that the land was seized, not put under sequestration.

*On the other hand, peasants of al-Baroudi village, Rahmaniyya district said that the executive judge suspended a court ruling in favour of the village sheikh of Kafr Mehallat Dawood. The ruling stipulated the evacuation a number of peasants on the ground that the he owns the land. The village sheikh pretended that he owns that land and forged contracts alleging that he rented the land to the peasants. But the executive judge found that among the tenants there are three fudalist heirs who died 13 years before the lawsuit was filed.

It is worthy of mentioning that the land of the two villages was seized from the original owner Mohammed Ashraf al-Baroudi in accordance with the land reform law in 1958.

             May 2008 – 4