The Court of Cassation rejected on Sunday Ayman Nour's appeal against his 2005 conviction for forging signatures in order to establish the Ghad Party.
“I didn’t expect a decree in my favor,” Nour’s son quoted his father as saying. “We knew over the past few days that a figure from the current regime [ruling military council] has communicated with the judiciary,” he said, hinting that the ruling was unfair.
The upheld conviction can prevent Nour from running in the presidential election slated for March, as forgery is a crime that disqualifies presidential candidates.
An Egyptian court sentenced Nour to five years in prison in December 2005 for forging signatures to enable him to register the Ghad Party. The party had been approved in 2004. Nour was released from prison in February 2009.
In March this year, Nour requested Attorney General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud re-investigate his case. Nour said he has received documents proving the forgery accusations were fabricated, apparently found when the dissolved State Security Investigation Services (SSIS) headquarters was attacked by citizens in February.
Nour said he had around 100 documents that prove the SSIS' involvement in ruining political life in Egypt, including papers about the Ghad Party and the 2005 court case.
Activists criticized Sunday's ruling on social media websites and planned marches in Alexandria in response.
Nour, who was known to be a prominent opponent of the rule of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, took second place with 8 percent of ballots during the 2005 presidential elections behind Mubarak.
