CAIRO: On Oct. 3, 2006 opposition MP Talaat El Sadat appeared on Orbit’s “Al Qahira Al Youm talk show and said that not a single bullet was fired by former president Anwar Sadat’s bodyguards during his assassination to protect him. Less than a month later, El Sadat was imprisoned when a military tribunal found him guilty of defaming Egypt’s armed forces.
After spending close to a year in prison, El Sadat is still forthright about his ideas. In the first part of his interview with Daily News Egypt he said that he would support a military takeover of Egypt much to the chagrin of NDP and Muslim Brotherhood MPs. During his time behind bars, Sadat said he was impressed by the humane treatment he received from armed forces personnel. A staunch critic of the Egyptian regime, he said he will continue to express what he feels are the whispers inside the hearts of all Egyptians.
After you defended the alleged serial killer in the 2005 Beni Mazar massacre and the court found him innocent, he was placed under house arrest in his home. How do you see the future of this case unfolding?
We are waiting for the court of cassation’s session, when the case will be reopened. I assure you that the innocence verdict will be upheld. On the day of the session, I will go to the head judge and repeat what I said the first time around. This case was plagued with negligence. It was an unbelievable case in all respects, not possible, according to all possible calculations. And when I read the case I found that the Ministry of Interior did not do its job with regards to the investigation. Their investigative work was a joke and it was clear that the defendant was innocent. I took this case for free because the boy was very poor.
What are the most important political battles you are planning to undertake in the future?
I wouldn’t call them battles but a series of struggle and toil. At this point I have two priorities ahead of me. There is a legislative component as well as procedural, legal, judiciary components. The legislative part is Egypt’s return to the constitution of 1971 in its original state, in addition to making the powers of the president more succinct. He needs to be a normal man not a God. Through the legal and judiciary component we must retrieve the funds that have been transferred out of Egypt which are enough to cover all of Egypt’s loans. Along with that there should be a repatriation of Egypt’s factories and companies, which have been sold for the lowest prices.
Do you mean a reversal of the privatization program?
It is a program of burglary and stealing not privatization. Is it possible for me to cut electricity for the average citizen in rural areas for 20 hours a day and for you to come out later and say that we export electricity? How is it possible for the average citizen who has a limited income to buy a loaf of bread for as much as 15 piasters and 20 piasters? This means we have moved outside the realm of humane treatment, there are animals that are treated in a better way in any other part of the world.
What did you learn from your experience in prison?
Faith and patience, I am patient by nature but I have become even more patient. And there is no refuge or enjoyment except within God almighty. I’m telling those that stood against me in the words of the prophet Eissa, do on to others as you would have them do on to you.
Do you think the Muslim Brotherhood’s support for you while you were imprisoned holds any political significance?
Both the Christian brothers and the Muslim brothers are with me and they are both equally deserving of empathy. Everyone is suffering, there is no such thing as the Christian brothers or Muslim brothers, they are all Egyptian brothers who are suffering. You can see what’s happening in Egypt, state security doesn’t leave a single Christian or Muslim without giving them trouble. They create problems for Christians and Muslims so that the whole country is in a state of chaos. The syndicates are in disarray. There are no real political parties. There is no parliament, no Shoura Council. There is only the ruling party and they are the sole benefactors from this stage of the political process. I think the United States has a role in the low state we have reached due to its support for those who have no popularity. As well as the fact that the US is standing by those whom the Egyptian people are standing against.
As a politician known to encourage tolerance, what is your take on the increasing surge of sectarian problems within Egyptian society?
The regime in Egypt accelerates these interior problems so their presence is justified. This is a policy that the Ministry of Interior follows to serve the regime. So don’t be surprised if someone publishes a book in Egypt similar to the green book (reference to the green book published by the Libyan regime promoting its policies). If you wake up tomorrow morning and find a red, yellow, or white book in Egypt, you shouldn’t be surprised at all. Because the system they are using in Egypt is to distract the people. A kid in Alexandria took a cab, stabbed the people in a church then attacked three other churches and you tell me that he’s crazy, it’s ludicrous. Some guy comes out of nowhere, claims he is the new pope of the Orthodox Church. The same goes for the Muslim community, some Sheikh comes out issuing a fatwa on the breast feeding. Where did they get these ideas from?
What do you think of the court proceedings that took place before you were imprisoned?
I have been a lawyer for 25 years and I have never heard the expression defaming the armed forces by implication. Now people can go to jail simply for implying, not even outwardly saying something. I stood in front of an officer, who was pretending to be a judge. Every time I would say something to him, he would look at me and smile. You know the person who filed the case against me was not from the military establishment, but an officer in state security. I kept asking for them to summon the officer who filed the complaint because I heard that he doesn’t even exist. He would simply smile at me. Amr Adib, the host of the show, came to the court proceedings and testified against me. He works with security, this is the difference between Hala Sarhan and Amr Adib. This is the difference between a journalist like Wael El Ebrashy and Amr Adib. The media in Egypt is being politicized for the sake of the security apparatus.
