Military trial of Islamists illegal - Egypt court

CAIRO, May 8 (Reuters) An Egyptian court has ruled that a decision by President Hosni Mubarak to transfer 40 Muslim Brotherhood detainees to military courts was illegal, security sources said today.

A lawyer for the detainees said the ruling effectively required their release, but said there was no guarantee the government would implement it.

''The court has, thank God, accepted the appeal and decided to stop the President's decision ... as such, that entails their release,'' said lawyer Abdel Moniem Abdel Maqsoud.

''Will the government carry out the ruling, or will it as usual procrastinate? That's the question that everyone's waiting to have answered,'' he said.

Such a ruling, while not unprecedented, is exceptionally rare as it is effectively a challenge to the president, who ordered the transfers.

Legally, the ruling is binding and effective immediately. But the government often ignores court release orders in cases involving opponents.

In its ruling the administrative court said that the Egyptian constitution and international law required that individuals be tried before their ''natural'' judge -- civilian courts in this case.

It also said the law recognised no ''absolute authority'', a reference to Mubarak.

Mubarak referred 40 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, including third-in-command Khairat el-Shatir, to military court on terrorism and money-laundering charges in February, the first such referrals since 2001.

The detained Islamists appeared before a closed military tribunal in late April, but the session was postponed after only a single defence lawyer turned up.

The Egyptian government has stepped up a crackdown on the Brotherhood since the group's strong showing in 2005 elections gave it around a fifth of seats in parliament. It has targeted Brotherhood finances and detained or arrested hundreds.

A set of constitutional amendments approved in a referendum in March gave Mubarak broad powers to transfer anyone suspected of ''terrorism'' to military courts, known for tough and swift verdicts. But the order transferring the detainees to military courts was made before the constitution was changed.

REUTERS HK RAI2010