(AFP PHOTO / TAREK EL-GABASS)
Muslim Brotherhood politician Mohamed Al-Beltagy was fined EGP 20,000 for insulting lawyer and president of Al-Zamalek Sporting Club Mortada Mansour.
The Boulaq Aboul Ela Misdemeanour Court sentenced Al-Beltagy on Saturday and also fined the journalist who published the news in Akhbar Al-Youm news service an equal amount, state-run Al-Ahram reported.
Akhbar Al-Youm, a state-owned media organisation, ran claims by Beltagy on 19 December 2012, in which he suggested that Mansour stormed the office of then-Prosecutor General Tala’at Abdallah and forced him to hand in his resignation. Abdallah had handed in his resignation on 17 December.
Abdallah was appointed in November 2012 through a presidential decree by ousted president Mohamed Morsi, after he dismissed Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, who had served as prosecutor general since the era of ousted president Hosni Mubarak. This was at a time of increasing polarisation in the country; his appointment by the president caused outrage and his presence in office was protested.
Al-Beltagy faces a series of charges alongside other Muslim Brotherhood figures, including Morsi. He and Morsi are among the 15 defendants being tried on charges of inciting the killing of 10 protesters during deadly clashes outside the presidential palace in December 2012. Al-Beltagy is a defendant in a high profile espionage case involving Morsi. He also faces charges of “insulting the judiciary and its men,” alongside Morsi.
He is a defendant in a torture case that dates back to 2011.
