CAIRO, 7 July 2005 — The forgery trial of opposition leader and presidential candidate Ayman Nour has been adjourned until after Egypt’s elections in September, Judge Adel Abdul Salam announced yesterday. But in line with Egyptian law, the trial postponement will not affect Nour’s candidacy as he has been charged so far but not condemned. He appeared before Cairo’s Criminal Court yesterday and twice last week as a free man. Salam said the trial has been adjourned until Sept. 25, while the elections are scheduled to take place in the first two weeks of the month.
“We would have wished that Nour could have proved his innocence before the presidential elections. It is a very long and unjustified delay,” said defense lawyer Amir Salem. Egyptian authorities accuse him of forging some of the signatures needed to obtain state approval for the creation of his Ghad (tomorrow) party last year.
Nour and his team of around 10 prominent lawyers deny the forgery charges and have vowed to prove that the signatures were authentic, arguing the charges were trumped up to cripple his campaign. Ayman Ismail, a co-defendant in the trial, reiterated yesterday that the incriminating statements he made against Nour were the result of police blackmail.
In a spectacular about-turn, he told the judge last week that he had accused Nour under pressure from a police officer who threatened to “harm” his sister’s young daughters. Ismail said he was afraid his family would be harmed but added that he had decided to rescind the testimony because he wanted to have a clear conscience.
Egyptian opposition groups yesterday cast doubt on the neutrality of people chosen to sit on a commission which will have the last word on the conduct of elections. Under new rules for the first multi-candidate elections, five judges and five public figures chosen by Parliament will sit on the commission, whose decisions are final.
The lower house of Parliament chose two former judges and a former health minister, Ibrahim Badran, and a committee in the upper house, the Shoura Council, approved two others.
“They have set this all up to give the impression that we will be choosing our president fairly... No one is going to be buying this idea,” said Hany Enan, an organizer of the opposition Kefaya (enough) movement.
