The Matareya Misdemeanor Appeals Court has upheld a one-year prison sentence given to former Egyptian presidential candidate Ahmed Tantawi on charges of incitement and abetting for printing and distributing electoral procedure documents without authorization, his lawyer said. Announced on monday.
Tantawi and his campaign manager, Mohamed Abou El Dia, were initially sentenced to one year in prison and released on 20,000 Egyptian pounds bail in February pending an appeal. Tantawi was also banned from running in parliamentary elections for five years. The court also imposed the same sentence on 21 members of his campaign.
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Tantawi said during the trial that he took full responsibility for his election campaign and called on the court to immediately acquit all defendants involved in the case.
Amr Magdy, senior Middle East and North Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said following the February verdict:
“The Egyptian authorities should immediately drop the unjustified charges against Tantawi and his supporters, which are nothing more than retaliation against his peaceful challenge to President Sisi. By banning Tantawi from running in future elections, the authorities are sending a clear message that they will not tolerate any serious challenges to President Sisi.”
The charges against Tantawi were brought under Decree No. 45/2014 on the Regulation of the Exercise of Political Rights, which prohibits “the printing or distribution in any form of election ballots or documents used in the electoral process” and provides for a minimum prison sentence of one year. HRW condemned the application of the law, stressing that it is inconsistent with the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association protected under international human rights law.