Egypt's prime minister
sacked Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zend on Sunday after he was criticized for
saying he would jail Islam's Prophet Mohammad himself if he broke the law.
Zend's comments came in a
televised interview on Friday. He immediately said "God forgive
me," and on Saturday issued an apology in another interview. It was
not immediately clear who would replace Zend, a hardliner and outspoken critic
of the Muslim Brotherhood.
"Prime Minister Sherif
Ismail issued a decree today to relieve Ahmed al-Zend...of his position,"
a government statement said, giving no more details.
Zend, a former appeals court
judge, had been publicly outspoken in his criticism of the Islamist movement
removed from power by the army in mid-2013 and banned as a terrorist group.
He has in the past denounced
the 2011 revolt that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule and ushered in the
election that brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power. He has also been a
strong defender of the judiciary and its powerful position.
Egyptian judges issued a
statement opposing Zend's removal over what the head of the Judges Club told
Reuters was a slip of the tongue that could have happened to anyone.
"Egypt's judges are sorry
that someone who defended Egypt and its people, judiciary and nation in the face
of the terrorist organization that wanted to bring it down should be punished
in this way," said Abdallah Fathi.
Egyptian courts have been
absolving Mubarak-era officials, while imposing long sentences on liberal and
Islamist activists.
Egypt's judiciary has faced
criticism from rights groups in the past two years after judges issued mass
death sentences against Muslim Brotherhood supporters, locking up youth
activists and sentencing writers and journalists.
Zend's predecessor was also
forced to resign last May after saying the son of a garbage collector was
ineligible to serve as a judge.