Pro-Mursi politician sent to prison for insulting the judiciary

Tuesday 14-10-2014 03:19 PM
Pro-Mursi politician sent to prison for insulting the judiciary

MP Essam Sultan - Reuters

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CAIRO, Oct 14 (Aswat Masriya) – An Egyptian court sentenced on Tuesday former parliamentarian and Wasat Party leading figure Essam Sultan to a year's hard labour for insulting the judiciary.

Sultan faced court on Tuesday for the charge of torturing citizens at the pro-Mohamed Mursi Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in last year, reported state-run news agency MENA. 

The defendant said during Tuesday's session that all the detention orders he received and the trial he is facing are "politicised", reported MENA.

The judge overseeing the case accused him of "insulting" and "disdaining" the judiciary during Tuesday's session and sentenced him to prison accordingly.

The court also renewed Sultan's detention for 45 more days pending the prosecution's investigation into the torture charges.

Sultan is accused, alongside others, of murder, attempted murder, forcefully detaining citizens and inciting illegal arms possession during the Rabaa sit-in.

The sit-in was set up in late June 2013 in support of the ousted president. The authorities violently dispersed it on August 14 in the same year, killing hundreds of protesters in the process.

The Wasat party was one of the founders of the pro-Mursi Anti Coup Alliance. The alliance, also known as the National Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy, was formed in late June 2013 to voice its support for Mursi's "legitimate" presidency.

The party announced its withdrawal from the alliance in late August.

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