CAIRO: Egypt s jailed opposition leader Ayman Nour was found not guilty on Tuesday of physically assaulting a voter during the September 2005 presidential elections, his wife and security sources said.
The Bab Al-Sharia criminal court acquitted Nour – who came in a distant second in the 2005 presidential elections – because of the lack of evidence, the source said.
According to the complaint, plaintiff Gamal Abdel Nasser was casting his vote in the Bab al-Sharia district when the 42-year-old politician assaulted him with a stick.
The court also rejected a civil action by Nour against the plaintiff.
Nour is currently serving a five-year sentence for forging powers of attorney needed to set up his liberal opposition Ghad party, a charge widely seen as politically motivated.
He was driven from the prison to attend the court session.
His wife and spokeswoman Gameela Ismail, as well as dozens of supporters and Ghad party members, chanted long live justice when the verdict was pronounced.
We were worried and scared that the decision would come from the top, that it would once again be a political decision, Ismail said. But we thank God that there are still independent judges in Egypt.
Even though he is still in prison, the verdict will give some hope to the opposition, to the youth and to party members that justice in Egypt can be achieved, she added.
Nour, an insulin-dependent diabetic, has complained of the lack of medical care in prison, resulting in a steep decline in his health.
He still faces another 31 charges, mostly filed by private citizens, ranging from not holding a valid handgun permit to insulting Islam in his newspaper.
