Egyptian authorities have summoned former presidential hopeful Ahmed Tantawi from his prison cell for questioning in two new cases before releasing him back to jail, according to his lawyer Khaled Ali.
State security prosecutors charged Tantawi with "inciting a terrorist act and inciting a public gathering" by allegedly calling for protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, Ali told AFP news agency.
Tantawi denied both charges. By ordering his "release", the two cases remain active, and the former parliamentarian can be brought back in for interrogation, Ali said on Sunday.
Tantawi is due to be freed late next month after serving a one-year prison sentence.
Failed election bid
He had hoped to run against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in elections in 2023, but Tantawi and 22 members of his campaign were found guilty of election campaign irregularities last year.
They were convicted of "circulating election-related papers without official authorisation" in the lead-up to the vote, which Sisi won by 89.6%, his third landslide victory.
Tantawi had accused authorities of hampering his effort to collect the endorsements required to run in the presidential election under various pretexts, including computer malfunctions, claims the authorities denied.
Ahmad al-Tantawi had hoped to run against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in elections last year but withdrew his candidature before the December vote.
Tantawi instead asked his supporters to fill out unofficial "popular endorsement" forms – a tactic the authorities labelled as tantamount to election fraud.
He ultimately collected only 14,000 endorsements – well short of the 25,000 needed from at least 15 of Egypt's 27 governorates to enable him to run.
The former member of parliament withdrew his candidacy before the December 2023 vote. The United Nations in May last year called for Tantawi's immediate release.
