Son of former presidential candidate arrested, whereabouts unknown

Ahmed Abouel Fotouh, son of former presidential candidate and head of the Strong Egypt Party Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh,  was arrested at the Katameya traffic unit on Wednesday morning while renewing his drivers license, defense lawyer Khaled Ali said on Thursday. 

According to Ali, Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh’s son was arrested in relation to a ten-year jail sentence that was issued against him in absentia as part of the same case in which a ruling was issued against his father.

Ahmed Abouel Fotouh is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for allegedly “leading a terrorist group.” He was also accused of new terrorism charges in December on a 2020 case where he was added as a suspect without him or his lawyers being informed.

Following the arrest on Wednesday, Ahmed was taken to the New Cairo Prosecution Office to sign a request for retrial procedures, the lawyer said, adding that he will undergo a new trial in the same case after a hearing date is set.

Ali added that since Wednesday, authorities have not informed Ahmed’s family or lawyers where he was detained or  the location he was transferred to after he signed off on the retrial procedures.

Founded in 2012, the Strong Egypt Party sought to to merge left and liberal groups with movements inflected by political Islam, launching a campaign for the presidential election in the same year with Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh as its candidate.

Abouel Fotouh was arrested in 2018 and held in remand for over three years before trial — long over the legal maximum remand detention period of two years for the most serious crimes.

Abouel Fotouh was referred to trial in August 2021 before an emergency state security court, just two months shy of the years-long state of emergency’s expiration, and was convicted of ten charges in May 2022. 

The charges included “leadership in the terrorist Brotherhood group,” collecting, receiving, possessing, supplying, transferring, and providing money and weapons to the Muslim Brotherhood, in addition to providing a safe haven for terrorists and “creating and providing a headquarters for traditional weapons training.” 

The Muslim Brotherhood, of which Abouel Fotouh was a member until leaving the party in the 1990s, is classified as a terrorist organization in Egypt.