(Photo Public Domain)
By Allaa Zain
The trial of Yasser Ali, spokesman for the presidency under former president Mohamed Morsi, has been postponed to 18 October by a misdemeanour court on Saturday.
Ali has been accused of assisting former prime minister Hisham Qandil in evading the authorities and of joining a terrorist organisation.
According to state-run television, the prosecution has confronted Ali with investigations and statements from Qandil which all indicate that Ali collaborated with Qandil to help him evade arrest.
Ali however has denied all charges against him, state-run television reported.
Ali was Morsi’s campaign manager and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party media committee in the 2012 presidential race. After Morsi’s electoral victory a presidential decree was issued to appoint Ali as a presidential spokesman.
He was arrested on 31 December 2013 from an apartment in Dokki, Cairo and was eventually transferred to Tora Prison.
Qandil was arrested a week earlier than Ali and was reportedly caught in a “mountainous path” with a smuggler while attempting to flee to Sudan, the Ministry of Interior stated following his arrest.
In July the Court of Cassation ordered Qandil’s release from prison after a successful appeal by the former prime minister against a one-year sentence for not implementing a court order annulling the privatisation of Tanta Flax and Oil Company which was sold in 2005 to a Saudi investor.
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