Authorities arrest Tantawi’s presidential campaign manager in court

Lawyer Mohamed Aboul Diyar, the campaign manager of former presidential hopeful Ahmed Tantawi, was arrested in court on Monday after the judge upheld a ruling against him for electoral fraud, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights lawyer Hazem Salah told Mada Masr.

Tantawi, Aboul Diyar and 21 members of Tantawi’s campaign to qualify for the 2023 presidential race have been sentenced to serve a year each in prison on charges that they forged forms for Tantawi’s endorsement.

The Matareya Misdemeanors Court upheld a verdict during an appeals session held on Monday to imprison Aboul Diyar for a year. Authorities then apprehended Aboul Diyar within the courtroom, Salah said.

Charges against Aboul Diyar and other campaign members date back to the nomination phase of the 2023 electoral race. Members of the public supporting Tantawi were faced with assault and harassment while attempting to register official backing for his nomination, leading campaign supporters to circulate endorsement forms independently. They were later arrested on claims that they had forged the forms.

The court upheld the ruling without responding to several requests submitted by Aboul Diyar’s defense team to challenge the court’s decision, Salah said. 

The defense team requested that defendants in the case be interrogated and that requests Aboul Diyar submitted to the National Elections Authority in his capacity as a lawyer during the election campaign be considered as evidence in the trial.

The court adjourned the session, upholding the verdict without further deliberation amid chants of "invalid" from the lawyers.

Aboul Diyar’s defense team issued a statement, of which Mada Masr reviewed a copy, saying that the Lawyers Syndicate and lawyers who acted for the defense did so “after it was revealed to them that [Aboul Diyar’s] involvement in this case was in his capacity as a legal representative, conducted to the highest standards, and that he is now facing trial for simply fulfilling his professional duties.”

Tantawi’s bid to run in the 2023 presidential race was met with security restrictions. His campaign members and relatives were arrested and his supporters faced obstruction and assault while attempting to register their endorsement for his candidacy.