Egyptian military Live Blog

The Egyptian military’s vast economic interests in the country are one of those secrets that is not really a secret.

Their social clubs, complexes, villages and products are clear for all to see, but their precise hold on the country’s economy has never been determined, as Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros writes.

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More on that statement by Egypt's military rulers, given on state television today:

We face conspiracies hatched against the homeland, whose goal is to undermine the institutions of the Egyptian state and whose aim is to topple the state itself so that chaos reigns and destruction spreads.

"Never will we bow to threats, nor succumb to pressures, nor accept ultimatums."

An Egyptian court ordered on Tuesday that forced virginity tests be stopped on female detainees in military prisons.

The case was filed by Samira Ibrahim, a woman who said the army forced her to undergo a virginity test in April after she was arrested during a protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Human rights organisations say that there have been many other such tests by the military.

"The court orders that the execution of the procedure of virginity tests on girls inside military prisons be stopped," Aly Fekry, head of Cairo’s administrative court, said.

Hundreds of activists inside the courtroom cheered after the ruling was read out.

Egyptian military personnel accused of taking part in violent clashes and human rights violations against protesters will be prosecuted by military courts, an official said on Tuesday.

"The media circulated an argument that no legal actions were taken against those who ran over protesters near Maspero and we say that the case is being looked by the Supreme Military Court," General Adel Morsi, the head of the Military Judiciary Authority, said in a statement.

More than 25 people were killed in clashes that erupted during a demonstration by Christians on October 9, an incident now commonly known as the "Maspero" events.

During the Maspero incident protesters said military police used excessive force, firing live ammunition and driving armoured vehicles into the crowds. The army defended their action and blamed "foreign elements" and other agitators for the violence.

Morsi also said cases of reported forced "virginity tests" on detained female protesters last April had also been transferred to the Supreme Military Court.

-- REUTERS