Essam Sultan, the deputy head of Al-Wasat party, accused Deputy Prosecutor General Adel Al-Saeed on Tuesday of masterminding a plot to forcefully overthrowing Prosecutor General Tal’at Abdallah.
Abdallah ended Al-Saeed’s mandate as a deputy prosecutor general Tuesday.
In a statement released on his facebook page following the official referendum results, Sultan claimed that Al-Saeed aided prosecutors to surround Abdallah until he was forced to sign his resignation letter at gunpoint. He stated that Abdallah was in his office when the loud protests of the prosecutor began, adding that Al-Saeed then suggested the prosecutor general move to another office to avoid the noise and meet privately with some of the protesters.
“And that’s when the tragedy began,” Sultan said in his statement. He claimed as soon as Abdallah moved to the other office, it was flooded with protesting prosecutors cursing and surrounding him. “They created a human chain denying access to Abdallah and also preventing his movement,” Sultan said. He added that “thugs who took part in the Battle of the Camel” were among those who flooded the office.
Sultan claimed Abdallah received a phone call from the minister of interior offering to “release him of his detention” by sending security forces. “Abdallah declined the offer to prevent bloodshed,” Sultan stated. He added that the “Battle of the Camel thugs” were prepared to attack other prosecutors.
Stalling the referendum was the protesters’ main aim, Sultan claimed. “It was what Abdallah feared and tried to avoid the whole time, so that the referendum is held regardless of the assaults Abdallah endures.”
According to Sultan, Saeed’s role in the plot was when he nagged the prosecutor general to write down his resignation letter to end the crisis. “It was at this moment that Abdallah realised the plot being woven against him, as well as the identity of its mastermind,” Sultan stated.
Abdallah withdrew his resignation Thursday, claiming he was forced to resign at gunpoint.
Neither Sultan nor Al-Saeed could be reached for comment.
Abdallah was appointed prosecutor general by President Mohamed Morsy through a constitutional declaration issued late November. The constitutional declaration, which caused wide-scale protests, was revoked two weeks later. However, Abdallah’s appointment persisted.
