Former MP Ahmed Tantawi arrested after court upholds 1 year prison term

CAIRO - 27 May 2024: Former MP Ahmed Tantawi was arrested Monday in Matariya Appeals Court to serve his one-year imprisonment over forging political endorsements in order to run for the 2024 presidential elections. 

The court upheld the sentence of Tantawi and his office manager along with paying a LE20,000-fine. The sentence also bans him from running for parliamentary elections for 5 years.

Tantawi failed to collect the minimum number of endorsements either from the parliament or from citizens at notary offices to run for president.

The case also involved another 21 defendants, who were members of the presidential campaign of Tantawi. The court sentenced the 21 defendants to one year in prison.

Last October, number of people were arrested in the governorates of Alexandria, Giza, Fayoum, and Suez for forging endorsement forms for the favor of ‘one of the potential candidates’ for the 2024 presidential elections.

According to a security source, the arrested people were putting different signatures on a circulated form, to claim that they were issued by the authorized registration offices.

A total of 596 copies of the ‘empty forged endorsement forms’ were found in their possession, and it was also possible to identify and arrest the owner of the ‘printing house’ that printed the forged the forms.

In another statement issued by the Ministry of Interior, a security source stated that, ‘in light of what is observed by some supporters of one of the potential candidates for the presidential elections, calling for actions that violate the law and movements that disturb security, the Ministry of Interior confirms that it will take all legal measures decisively against those who violate the legal controls established by the National Elections Authority or Any violations that disturb public security.’

In October, Egypt’s National Election Authority (NEA) said that ‘online’ candidate presidential endorsements from citizens are not eligible, and that anyone who wishes to issue presidential candidate endorsement form, must head to one of the designated notary offices estimated at 217 offices nationwide.

According to the NEA Resolution No. 7 of 2023 regulating the rules and procedures for citizens’ support for those wishing to run for Presidency, it stipulated that ‘every citizen registered in the voter database has the right to support any candidate wishing to run for Presidency, as no single citizen may support more than one candidate.