as the chief suspects in the investigation of the Taba bombings, went unanswered.2 15. Thus according to the Complainants, from the date of arrest on 22 October 2004 to 24 March 2005, the First Victim was denied access to counsel and that it was on 24 March 2005 that a lawyer attended the final interrogation hearing during which the First Victim retracted his “confessions”. 16. The Complainants assert that the First Victim also requested medical attention and a forensic examination in relation to his allegations of torture while in detention but the request for a forensic examination was rejected by the Public Prosecutor‟s Office according to the viciously circular logic that only a legal representative (which he was also denied) could make such a claim. 17. According to the Complainants, the charges against the victims and two other individuals in relation to the Taba bombings were referred to the Supreme State Security Emergency Court in Ismailiya on 30 March 2005, and listed as case No. 40/20053. They state that the trial started on 2 July 2005 and it was at this time that the First Victim appeared before a judge for the first time since his arrest, eight months earlier. The Complainants also assert that during the 2 The plea, submitted on 24 November 2004, was registered under Number 16332. 3 The Supreme State Security Emergency Court was set up in accordance with the Emergency Law (above, n. 1). The scope of the jurisdiction ratione materiae, composition of, and appointment procedures to, the Supreme State Security Emergency Court are discussed in Section III.B.1(a) on the right to an independent tribunal. 5