Former Islamist presidential candidate and opposition figure Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh will remain in custody on charges of joining an outlawed group despite a release order earlier on Tuesday in another case, the prosecution said. On Tuesday, the prosecution ordered a 15-day detention renewal for Abul-Fotouh on charges of publishing false news and joining an outlawed group pressed against him in 2019. The renewed detention came despite a release order in another case in which he was charged of incitement against the state in 2018. Abul-Fotouh was arrested in February 2018 after he returned from London, where he had given interviews critical of the government. Shortly after his arrest, Abul-Fotouh was placed on the terrorism list for alleged ties with the Muslim Brotherhood before his appeal against the designation decision was accepted in 2020. However, a criminal court placed him again on the state's terror list along with other figures for a five-year period a year later. Under the anti-terrorism law, which has been in effect since 2015, any person placed on the terror list is subject to a travel ban and having their assets frozen. Abul-Fotouh, who leads the centrist Strong Egypt party, is a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He defected from the group in 2011 and has for years distanced himself from it. He ran for president in 2012.
