Tantawi postpones return to Egypt to kickstart presidential bid after arrest of family members, supposed supporters

Facing the arrest of a number of his supporters and family members, Ahmed Tantawi, a former MP and Karama Party leader party who announced his bid for the 2024 presidential elections last month, said that he will postpone his return to Egypt to an undisclosed date later this week.

Tantawi, a member of the Civil Democratic Movement opposition alliance, was set to return to Cairo yesterday to launch his presidential campaign after 8 months of self-imposed exile in Beirut due to security concerns. 

However, the arrest and detention of at least 15 of his supporters, including two of his uncles, throughout last week prompted the politician to reschedule his flight “to avoid more arrests at the airport,” he said in a statement released on May 5 . 

Tantawi traveled to Beirut in August of last year after state security bodies gave instructions for him to step away from public commentary, sources told Mada Masr at the time. 

Since the president called for the National Dialogue in April of last year, heralding it as a forum for political inclusivity and discussion, Tantawi has been vocally critical of the initiative. He gave interviews to BBC Arabic and Mada Masr and wrote opinion articles for the independent outlet Al-Manassa, expressing cynicism regarding the inclusivity and transparency of the National Dialogue process and criticizing Sisi for overstepping presidential term limits, a reference to the 2018 constitutional amendments which revised the constitutionally mandated cap on a president's time in office. Tantawi called for Egyptians to be allowed to elect a new president. 

The arrest of Tantawi's family and supposed supporters coincided with last week's launch of the long-awaited National Dialogue. Noting the timing, 10 rights organizations condemned the Egyptian authorities targeting his family and supporters, stating that it shows a lack of willingness to address the human rights crisis in Egypt and proves that there is neither any intention to pass meaningful reforms that may emerge from The national dialogue nor willingness to allow free and fair presidential elections to be held in the country. 

The NGO statement noted that the events bring to mind the atmosphere of the 2018 presidential election, when authorities arrested several prominent potential competitors to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and forced others to quit the race.

Tantawi, who had announced his plans to return to Egypt on March 21 before announcing his intention to run for president in late April, said in a statement that a number of supporters were insistent on receiving him at Cairo International Airport, but he called on them to prioritize their safety and thought about alternatives. The potential candidate first tried to rent a conference room, but all his attempts were rejected, leading him to postpone his arrival, he added.

The statement noted that the detained family members and supporters were charged with intending to incite a riot at the airport, “even though all of them agreed to my request and none of them intended to come to the airport.”

Tantawi's uncles Mohamed Naguib al-Tantawi and Mohamed Sayed Ahmed Attia were brought on Thursday before the State Security Prosecution, along with a number of other supporters who were arrested in Kafr al-Sheikh governorate throughout the past week, according to lawyer Nasser Amin. They were all ordered detained for 15 days, pending investigations. 

Two lawyers who attended the investigations with Tantawi's uncles and 13 other defendants separately told Mada Masr that the total number of people arrested for supporting Tantawi remains unclear. The lawyers noted that besides the two relatives, most of the people arrested have no link to the candidate except being in his parliamentary constituency. 

According to the two lawyers, the defendants faced various charges, including “possessing leaflets that promoted support for Tantawi by force, and others that promoted statements by Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna.” Some defendants were also charged with possessing "fireworks and weapons," which they all denied.

“The arrests of relatives and supporters of Ahmed Tantawi demonstrate that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government is determined to stifle peaceful dissent and label all critics as threats,” Amr Magdi, a senior Middle East and North Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said . in a Saturday. “Such abuses infringe on the rights of those targeted and severely reduce the country's prospects for democratic and human rights for many years to come.”

Magdi added that the state has demonstrated a pattern of reprisals against families in Egypt of activists and critics living abroad, using unlawful home raids, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and prolonged detention of family members without trial or charges.

Sisi was reelected for a second term in April 2018, winning over 97 percent of the vote. His only opponent was a last-minute candidate and Sisi supporter Moussa Moustafa Moussa, the head of the Ghad Party.

Several would-be candidates were detained after announcing their bids. 

Mubarak-era prime minister, General Ahmed Shafiq, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates days after announcing his intention to run in the elections, according to his family. He was then deported to Egypt and placed on house arrest. He eventually withdrew his candidacy. 

Former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Sami Anan was arrested in January 2018 from his car and brought before the military prosecution several days after he published a video announcing his intention to run in the March presidential election. In the video, Anan demanded that civilian and military state institutions refrain from showing an “unconstitutional bias toward a president who might leave his chair in a few months.”

Hours after his arrest, the Armed Forces accused Anan of announcing his bid for office without first acquiring a permit from the military, aiming to incite a rift between the Armed Forces and the public and forging his end-of-service documents, in a televised statement.

A military court sentenced Armed Forces Colonel Ahmed Konsowa to six years in prison in December 2017 after he announced his intention to run in the elections.

*Writing by Ahmed Bakr