FILE - Member of the House of Representatives Ahmed Tantawy
CAIRO - 25 June 2019: Lawyer Ayman Mahfouz submitted a request to the Public Prosecution to lift the parliamentary immunity of Member of the House of Representatives Ahmed Tantawy after the director of his office had been arrested for being part of a terrorist cell.
Mahfouz justified his request, saying that the incident is an “undoubted proof” of Tantawy’s involvement in the charges pressed against his aide.
Tantawy, 39, is the representative of Desouk located in Qelin’s City in Kafr El Sheikh governorate. He used to work as a journalist in Al-Karama newspaper, which is a partisan publication affiliated to Al-Karama political party adopting the leftist ideology.
Tantawy is one of the founders of Al-Tayar al-Shaabi (the Populist Movement) along with former Presidential Contender Hamdin Sabahy. He is part of a parliamentary coalition dubbed “25 - 30.” The coalition encompasses members who participated in the January 25 Revolution that toppled Former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and the June 30 Revolution that overthrew Late President Mohamed Morsi.
The Ministry of Interior has successfully thwarted a terrorist plot by Muslim Brotherhood leaders to target the state facilities institutions in coincidence with the celebrations of the anniversary of June 30 Uprising, according to a statement issued Tuesday.
The ministry said in its statement that “the national security sector has managed to uncover a villainous scheme, orchestrated by fugitive Muslim Brotherhood leaders in cooperation with their operatives inside the country who claim to be representatives of civil political powers.”
According to the statement, the scheme was called “Hope Plan” and works on uniting the Brotherhood members, funding them from the revenues of some economic entities as they seek to topple the state and its institutions coinciding with the commemoration of the June 30 Uprising.
Information received by the National Security Service revealed that the plan is focused on establishing routes for the financial funds sent illegally from abroad by some hostile countries to work on carrying out violent and riot acts across the country to disrupt celebrations of the revolution's anniversary, the statement said.
The statement also noted that the scheme aimed at launching inciting campaigns in the media and on social media and satellite TV channels that are broadcast from outside the country. The statement identified some of the MB leaders who are involved in the plan including Mahmoud Hussein, Ali Bateekh, anchor Moataz Matar, Mohammed Nasser as well as fugitive leader of El-Ghad Party Ayman Nour.
Acting on such information, security forces, in coordination with the High State Security Prosecution, targeted 19 economic entities which are secretly run by the MB leaders and seized documents, amounts of money and electronic devices that were in their possession, the statement added.
The security authorities are currently making an inventory of the assets of these companies which are estimated to be worth LE 250 million and sifting through the seized documents, said the statement.
According to the statement, among those implicated in the scheme are Mostafa Abdel Moez Abdel Sattar Ahmed, Osama Abdel Aal Mohamed el Aqabawi, Ahmed Abdel Geleel Hussein el Ghanam, Omar Mohamed Sherif Mostafa el Shenety, Hossam Mo’nes Mohamed Saad, Zyad Abdel Hamid Zaki el-Eleimy, Hisham Fouad Mohamed Abdel Halim, and Hassan Mohamed Hassan Barbary, who were all rounded up with various MB-related documents and money found in their possession.
Among the arrested is the director of Parliamentarian Ahmed Tantawy’s office, said the statement.
The High State Security Prosecution has launched investigations to take legal action against all conspirators, the statement added.
MENA contributed to this report
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