Prosecutor general Tala’at Abdallah has revoked his resignation three days after he had announced it, according to state-owned MENA.
The development follows a statement from the Supreme Judicial Council saying Abdallah given notice of his intention to remain in his post, to which he was appointed after President Mohamed Morsy’s constitutional declaration on 22 November.
The SJC met on Thursday in an emergency meeting to discuss the decision made by the prosecutor general.
When speaking to state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper on Thursday, Abdallah justified his U-turn by citing the pressured environment in which he filed his resignation and the “unacceptable” precedent that would have been set had he resigned.
“The prosecutor general himself is not independent,” said lawyer Malek Adly, who added that he believed the decision for Abdallah to stay was a result of Muslim Brotherhood-led politicking.
“His original resignation was to postpone the sit-in that took place at his office on Monday,” he added. “But the judges won’t stay quiet.”
The Muslim Brotherhood had initially condemned Abdallah’s resignation on Monday, saying the sit-in pressuring him to leave was a form of “thuggery” and illegitimate pressure. The group alleged that Abdallah had been vulnerable to threats of physical violence during the sit-in, made up of mostly younger prosecutors.
Abdallah submitted his resignation to the SJC on Monday night after prosecutors protested at the High Court building and outside his office, demanding his immediate departure. After meeting with representatives from the sit-in, he agreed he would step down and return to his judicial duties. Before Abdallah’s reversal on Thursday, the SJC was due to make a decision next Sunday on his request for resignation, after the second phase of the constitutional referendum.
