The Matareya Misdemeanor Court ruled that former MP and presidential hopeful Ahmed al-Tantawi be imprisoned for one year with a suspended sentence, and banned him from running in parliamentary elections for a period of five years.
The RT website reported Tantawi’s lawyer Nabih al-Janady as saying that the court convicted his client and others on charges of circulating papers related to the elections without the permission of the competent authorities, calling on citizens to sign popular proxies.
He continued that the court also fined Tantawi LE20,000, prohibited him from running for any presidential position, and punished the rest of the defendants in the case to one year in prison.
A member of Tantawi’s defense team, Bilal Habib, said that “he will appeal the ruling after reviewing the merits of the first-instance ruling.”
Investigating authorities had previously decided to refer Tantawi, his campaign manager for the presidential elections, and 21 of its members to criminal trial.
The defendants were charged with circulating papers related to the elections without the permission of the competent authorities, and in violation of the law, by calling on citizens to sign popular proxies to support Tantawi.
Tantawi had planned to run for the previous presidential elections, but his papers were not accepted because he did not obtain the necessary endorsements.
