Nour Party distances itself from sex tape allegations, files charges against media

The ultraconservative Salafi Nour Party has adamantly denied media reports linking one of its members to a series of sex tapes, while reports of these sex tapes has been the top trending topic on Egypt’s social media networks since Tuesday.

The top trending hashtag amongst Egyptian users on Twitter for the past 24 hours has been ‘Anteel Hezb al-Nour – roughly translated as ‘Nour Party’s macho lover.’

Nader Bakkar, a leading representative of the Islamist party, posted comments on his Twitter account and on the Nour Party’s Facebook page on Wednesday mentioning that he had filed official charges to the General Prosecutor against the following media outlets: Veto, Al-Nahar and Al-Fagr newspapers.

Bakkar accuses these media outlets of “intentionally slandering” his party and seeking to tarnish its image. 

A number of media outlets, including the three aforementioned newspapers, have reported that the man appearing in these sex tapes is Mamdouh Hegazy, said to be a media secretary for the Nour Party.

Again, the Nour Party has refuted these claims.

Local media reports claim that the videos were shot on a hidden camera. These tapes are also reported to be recorded in the town of Santta in the Nile Delta governorate of Gharbeya.

Conflicting articles mention that these sex videos – some reports claim there are 12 recordings, others mention a total of 62 such recordings – show a middle aged man with a long beard engaging in sexual acts with women.

The reports claim that these sex videos came to light when their owner sent his laptop to be repaired at a local computer service center.

Ahmed al-Qattan, secretary for the Nour Party in the Gharbeya governorate told privately owned newspaper Youm7 that, “We know nothing of this person. He is not a member of the Nour Party or the Salafi Dawah Movement. His bearded image has wrongly convinced many that he is affiliated to the party.”

Furthermore, officials from this party claim these allegations are intended to harm Nour’s reputation ahead of parliamentary elections, the date of which has not yet officially been announced, although some new reports indicate that these elections may be held in March 2015.  

This is not the first scandal to rock the Nour Party.

Two former members of parliament from this party were caught up in public scandals that featured prominently in the local news.

In March 2012, the Nour Party’s MP Anwar Balkimi claimed he was assaulted and had his nose broken by assailants – only to be exposed by medical staff as being a patient who underwent a rhinoplasty operation at their hospital. Balkimi was subsequently expelled from the party for his attempted cover-up.

In June 2012, MP Ali Wanis was arrested with a young woman in a car and charged with public indecency. In July of that year, a court sentenced Wanis to 18 months in prison on this charge.

In the parliamentary elections of 2011/2012, the Salafi Nour Party won millions of votes and ended up as the second largest party in parliament – with around 24% of all seats - trailing just behind the Muslim Brotherhood and their political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party.