Egypt refers ex-presidential candidate, 24 others to criminal court

The cases of Egypt’s former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, his son and 23 others have been referred to the Criminal Court following an order issued by the Public Prosecution on Monday.

The Public Prosecution decided to try the former head of the Strong Egypt  Party, his deputy, Muhammad Al-Qassas, and his son Ahmed, in addition to Brotherhood leaders Ibrahim Mounir, Mahmoud Ezzat, Gamal Heshmat, media figure Ahmed Taha, and 18 others at the State Security Criminal Court.

It claimed that the 25 defendants had committed crimes of financing and raising funds for terrorism, promoting the use of violence, carrying weapons, and establishing training centres, within the framework of incidents that occurred between 1992 and August 2018. The Public Prosecution alleged that the former presidential candidate possessed weapons, promoted the use of violence, and spread false news to weaken the state.

Charges include actions that “aim forcefully at changing the regime and undertaking acts of hostilities against judges, members of the armed forces, the police, and their leaders and facilities.”

A former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, 70-year-old Aboul Fatouh headed the centrist Strong Egypt Party and ran as an independent candidate in the 2012 presidential elections, gaining nearly a fifth of the votes during the first round.

He was arrested ahead of the March 2018 presidential election, in which incumbent President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi was endorsed by his only opponent and won an overwhelming majority of the vote.

It is widely believed Aboul Fotouh was arrested because of media interviews he conducted with journalists from London the month before, in which he indirectly criticised Al-Sisi.

READ: HRW: Egypt has carried out unlawful extrajudicial executions