By Ebi Kesiena
An Egyptian appeal court on Monday upheld a one-year jail sentence for opposition politician Ahmad al-Tantawi, who was subsequently arrested “inside the courthouse,” according to his lawyer, Nabeh Elganadi.
Tantawi, who had intended to challenge President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in last year’s elections, was convicted of election campaign irregularities in February.
His lawyer Elganadi explained that the sentence was initially suspended on bail until today’s appeal, noting that Tantawi was arrested immediately following the court’s decision.
In addition to the jail term, Tantawi has been “barred from running in parliamentary elections for five years,” stated the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, a human rights organization.
The Court also upheld prison sentences for 22 members of Tantawi’s campaign team, including campaign director Mohamed Aboul Deyar, who received one year in prison with hard labor.
They were found guilty of circulating election-related papers without official authorization during the campaign, which concluded with Sisi’s third consecutive landslide victory.
Tantawi had accused the authorities of obstructing his efforts to gather the necessary endorsements to run for president, citing excuses such as computer malfunctions. He encouraged his supporters to complete unofficial popular endorsement forms, a tactic that authorities deemed equivalent to election fraud.
Ultimately, Tantawi managed to collect only 14,000 endorsements, falling short of the required 25,000 from at least 15 of Egypt’s 27 governorates. Alternatively, he would have needed nominations from at least 20 parliamentary deputies. Facing persistent harassment and obstruction, Tantawi withdrew his candidacy before the December election.
The National Election Authority declared Sisi the winner on December 18 with 89.6 percent of the vote, running against three relatively unknown candidates.
However, Human Rights Watch has noted that the authorities employed an array of repressive tools to eliminate potential challengers, including the imprisonment of another prospective candidate, Hisham Kassem.
Egypt has long faced criticism for its human rights record, with rights groups estimating that tens of thousands of political prisoners remain incarcerated, many in harsh conditions.
