(AFP Photo)
By Fady Ashraf
Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat referred leading Islamist figure and Al-Raya Party leader, Hazem Abu Ismail, to the Criminal Court on the charge of forgery, according to state-owned news agency MENA.
Abu Ismail is accused of having stated that his mother does not carry a nationality other than the Egyptian one, even though she had US citizenship when Abu Ismail was nominated for the presidency in 2012, according to the complaint filed against him by the presidential elections committee.
During the interrogations, Abu Ismail admitted he signed the avowal but said he did not know his mother held another nationality.
Hossam Al-Sharqawy, Al-Raya Party coordinator said in a phone call with Daily News Egypt the accusation is “untrue” and that Abu Ismail challenged “everybody” to bring evidence saying that his mother held US citizenship, but nobody did.
“The putchists could not fake such an accusation except after the coup. What made them remember this after a year and a half?” Al-Sharqawy asked.
Lawyer Malek Adly said that the sentence for forging an official statement ranges between three to seven years in prison.
Abu Ismail is also detained pending further investigations and is accused of inciting violence in the Bein El-Sarayat district in Giza governorate on 6 July.
