11:05PM
More on Nour's arrest
By 
Ursula Lindsey | Egypt
Ursula Lindsey | Egypt
I spoke to Ayman Nour's wife, Gameela Ismail (who is a journalist and in charge of public relations for Hizb Al Ghad) tonight. She told me that the case against her husband was expedited with highly unusual alacrity, on a day that would normally have been a holiday. State Security notified the Prosecutor General of an investigation and charges against Nour on Friday the 28th. The Prosecutor General in turn informed the Minister of Justice, and the Head of Parliament was notified late that same night upon his return to Egypt from abroad. By early Saturday morning, Parliament was convened and Nour was told to come because they were discussing lifting his immunity. By 10:30 am immunity had been lifted, and outside Parliament he was arrested by state security forces (on charges of forging powers of attorney for 1100 or so founding members he represented).
Ismail says that in the course of a six hour house search, police removed papers, documents, checkbooks, computers, CDs, videotapes, and medicines from the Nour residence. They also gathered documents from Nour’s office, including all the legal files of his clients (Nour works as a lawyer). After her husband’s arrest, says Ismail, he was taken to the High State Prosecution in Heliopolis. He was questioned from 8 pm to 6:30 am on Saturday night, says Ismail, who spoke to him briefly in the morning.
Speculation as to causes that might have triggered the government to move against Nour abounds (as you've seen from Josh's post). Ismail has her own theory: “It’s all a dirty political conspiracy by which they want to stop him attending the dialogue of the opposition. He presented an advisory last week to the head of the Shura Council asking for equivalency between the different parties�—meaning that the secretary general of the NDP would meet with the secretary generals of each party, and the presidents of opposition parties would meet only with the president of the NDP...that is President Hosni Mubarak himself. Nour also requested that the session be open and covered by the press and the media.
Nour is supposed to be in for four days of questioning, so maybe we'll hear from him by Wednesday.
Ismail says that in the course of a six hour house search, police removed papers, documents, checkbooks, computers, CDs, videotapes, and medicines from the Nour residence. They also gathered documents from Nour’s office, including all the legal files of his clients (Nour works as a lawyer). After her husband’s arrest, says Ismail, he was taken to the High State Prosecution in Heliopolis. He was questioned from 8 pm to 6:30 am on Saturday night, says Ismail, who spoke to him briefly in the morning.
Speculation as to causes that might have triggered the government to move against Nour abounds (as you've seen from Josh's post). Ismail has her own theory: “It’s all a dirty political conspiracy by which they want to stop him attending the dialogue of the opposition. He presented an advisory last week to the head of the Shura Council asking for equivalency between the different parties�—meaning that the secretary general of the NDP would meet with the secretary generals of each party, and the presidents of opposition parties would meet only with the president of the NDP...that is President Hosni Mubarak himself. Nour also requested that the session be open and covered by the press and the media.
Nour is supposed to be in for four days of questioning, so maybe we'll hear from him by Wednesday.
Reader Comments (3)
Elsewhere in the Middle East
The Egyptian government appears to be clamping down on the liberal opposition again. See the Arabist here and
a friend just told me that ayman put the the tawkeel at his site, asking future members of his party to fill it and send it to him...
http://www.aymannoor.com/try_el7ezb.asp
I wonder if this might be it....
Another dirty political conspiracy to set him away from the meeting of opposition leaders. I have watched Mr. Noor last week on Egyptian TV presenting an advisory and complaint to the council.. demanding applying the laws..and off course this would provoke the authorities in Egypt, this is why they made a conspiracy against him..
Although I am not a member his party EL GHAD, or any other political party, I know, and I have been following up Ayman Nour, he is a good honest man who loves his country, and he had hopes for a better future..
I ask the world community and the Leaders to stand against this political disaster in Egypt.
Dina Zulfikar