Prosecutor Probes Alleged Egyptian Election Fraud http://almon.co/3mg
6:15 PM - 13 Nov 12 · Details
Prosecutor Probes Alleged Egyptian Election Fraud |
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A picture of Egypt's first Islamist President Mohammed Morsi is held up as supporters cheer during a rally at Tahrir Square in Cairo, July 13, 2012. (photo by REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El-Ghany)
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It appears that tensions will continue to arise in the relationship between Egypt’s Public Prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmoud on one hand, and the presidency and the Islamic movements on the other. This comes after Mahmoud demanded [that the Justice Minister] assign a judge to investigate reports claiming that the presidential elections were rigged. However, Article 28 of the Constitutional Declaration, which was issued by the former military council, stipulates that the decisions of the Presidential Elections Commission cannot be challenged in court.
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Summary:
Ahmad Mustafa writes that tensions are high in Egypt as the public prosecutor continues his investigation of alleged election fraud and secularists and Islamists clash over draft constitution.
Publisher: Al-Hayat (Pan Arab)Original Title: The Attorney General Launches Probe After Receiving Reports of Violations in the Presidential Elections Author: Ahmad Mustafa Published on: Mon, Nov 12, 2012 Translated on: Tue, Nov 13, 2012 Translated by: Nola Abboud
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 Egypt |
Adel al-Saeed, the spokesperson for the public prosecutor, said that Mahmoud had sent a letter to Defense Minister Ahmad Makki ordering him to take the necessary measures to assign a judge to investigate all claims that the elections were rigged and look into the alleged violations that took place during the recent presidential elections. Saeed noted that “the decision was intended to complete the investigations and address the complaints as per the criminal code.”
The public prosecutor is attempting to distance himself from his affiliation with the former regime. He issued a statement on Nov. 10 announcing that the investigations conducted by the prosecution in the past months pertaining to cases of corruption and embezzlement of public funds during the rule of the former regime “resulted in recovering around 11 billion Egyptian pounds [$1.8 billion].” He added that the prosecution “is currently attempting to retrieve around 50 million pounds [$8.2 million] in accordance with the court order.”
In addition, Mahmoud said that the “prosecution conducted comprehensive and uninterrupted investigations into a number of complaints from Feb. 1, 2011, till end of October 2012. Then it referred the former president, his relatives, ministers and businessmen from the dissolved National Party to the criminal courts.”
This was taking place as disputes continued to emerge between the Constituent Assembly charged with drafting the new constitution and Egyptian judges over the articles on the judiciary — including an article setting the term of office for the post of public prosecutor to four years from the day he assumes office. This was condemned by the judiciary, which considered it an attempt to target the current prosecutor.
On Nov. 11, the Constituent Assembly held its session and discussed the final draft of the constitution. During the session, Islamists quarreled with representatives from Egypt’s liberal and leftist movements over the timetable for the issuance of the constitution. The liberal and leftist forces also voiced their opposition to some of the articles in the new constitution.
Prior to the meeting, which went on till the late hours of the night, Ahmad Maher, a member of the Constituent Assembly and founder of the April 6 Movement told Al-Hayat that the session will “discuss the timetable for the completion of drafting the new constitution and address the disputes over the voting mechanism on the draft constitution.” Maher noted that “the civil forces are demanding that members should vote on each article of the constitution, while the Islamist forces are demanding that they vote on the constitution as a whole. If we are not given the chance to express our opinion regarding the constitution and we sense that the issue of the constitution is being rushed, we will immediately withdraw. There are still outstanding disputes pertaining to a number of articles.”
On the other hand, Wahid Abdel Maguid, a member of the Constituent Assembly, criticized the Islamic movements over their eagerness to adhere to the six-month deadline for the issuance of the new constitution, a matter stipulated by the Constitutional Declaration.” He clarifies by saying “this deadline was set in order to organize a course of action. It would not be illegal if we miss the deadline and it should not be an issue if we decide on the constitution after the six-month deadline.” Abdel Maguid stressed “the importance of extensively discussing each article of the constitution without being rushed by the deadline. Every point in the constitution should be debated regardless of the numerous sessions this may require. The constitution should be announced after all members of the Constituent Assembly discuss their concerns and put forward their proposals.”
It is worth noting that as per the Constitutional Declaration, Nov. 19 would be the deadline for submitting the final draft of the constitution, and then the members will start voting on it. After that, the assembly will hold extensive sessions to conclude the voting on each article in the constitution and will hand it to the president before the end of November.
Representatives of the liberal and leftist forces in the assembly were strongly opposed to this process and issued a statement that condemned “rushing the constitution.” The drafting committee in the Constituent Assembly finished drafting the articles on national defense and security and discussed a number of amendments that could be introduced to the articles on the judiciary authority. The latter was an attempt to settle the disputes with the judges and the Supreme Constitutional Court over the draft constitution.
On Nov. 11, President Mohammed Morsi met with representatives from non-governmental organizations. Following this meeting, the presidency issued a short statement highlighting “the recent political and economic developments in the nation, the role of the NGOs and the challenges impeding their efforts.” The statement says that during the meeting, the president was informed that the issue of the constitution is currently being addressed, and that a number of NGO representatives announced their opposition to the draft constitution.
On another note, Cairo Criminal Court ordered the summoning of Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and former defense ministers, Mahmoud Wajdi and Mansur Isawi, to hear their statements regarding the burning of official documents that belonged to the Security Investigation. The latter was dissolved following the Jan. 25 Revolution, after the Security Investigation was accused of being involved in acts of torture against the opponents of toppled President Hosni Mubarak.
The court postponed its hearing until Dec. 11. During this hearing, Sisi, Wajdi and Isawi will take the stand and submit their statements on the case involving 41 former and present leading police officers, most prominently Maj. Gen. Hasan Abdel Rahman, former state security director. The court decided to summon Sisi because he was previously head of the military intelligence services, which were responsible for protecting the headquarters of the state security (i.e., the current national security) after it was raided. At the same time, former ministers Wajdi and Isawi were responsible for heading the ministry during the transitional period and were still officials when the documents were burned and the state security was dissolved.
During the first days of the revolution, angry protesters raided the offices of state security intelligence throughout the nation. The state security officers reacted by shredding and burning official documents. The officials justified this act by saying that the officers were “attempting to protect documents concerning the national security of Egypt,” and that “the same information was electronically stored at the main headquarters of the state security intelligence.”
One of the judges responsible for assigning the justice minister to investigate this matter found out that the claims stating that the documents were backed up electronically were untrue. He found out that the officers burned documents that include facts that incriminate them of committing violations against the law, tapping phones and monitoring the movements of national forces that opposed the Mubarak regime.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/11/egypt-tension-as-prosecutor-investigates-former-regime-officials.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#ixzz2C97ANZae
