When parliament resumes sessions next week, one of the hottest issues it will deliberate is the jailing of prominent opposition MP Talaat El-Sadat, reports Gamal Essam El-Din Once the People's Assembly goes back in session on 8 November, the sentencing of MP Talaat El-Sadat, nephew of late President Anwar El-Sadat and a leading opposition figure, to one year in jail is certain to top the agenda. El-Sadat was sentenced on Tuesday to one year in jail and fined LE200 by the military prosecutor on charges of "spreading false rumours and insulting the Egyptian armed forces". A spokesman said that the MP was taken into custody immediately after the verdict was handed down. El-Sadat, 52, suggested on 4 October that the Republican Guard and other army officers had masterminded the 1981 assassination of his uncle. El-Sadat, talking to an Arab satellite channel, even asserted that the killing of Sadat on 6 October, 1981, during a military parade, was part of an international conspiracy in which the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved. "A CIA bodyguard team was paid $25 million to protect Sadat, but on the day of the parade it did nothing to prevent the assassination of the president and the CIA failure was never investigated," claimed the nephew. Since entering parliament in 2003, El-Sadat has also been a fierce critic of President Hosni Mubarak, who referred his father Ismat to trial on corruption charges in 1982, and of the president's wife Suzanne and son Gamal. Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour used his power under Article 99 of the Constitution to strip El-Sadat of his parliamentary immunity while the Assembly is in recess, which allowed for the latter's prosecution. Article 99 also stipulates that in the event of the parliament speaker taking any action during a time of recess, the Assembly must be informed during its first subsequent session. El-Sadat said Sorour "took the hasty decision to strip me of immunity because he knew I was going to oppose him as Assembly speaker for the new session." The MP denies defaming the Egyptian Armed forces, while the family of the late president -- in an attempt to distance themselves from the case -- published full-page advertisements expressing their respect for the Armed Forces and President Mubarak. El-Sadat had pleaded innocent and insisted that his theories reflect his right to freedom of expression. Six human rights organisations rallied to his side, protesting Sorour's "hasty decision" to strip El-Sadat of immunity and refer him to a military court. Hafez Abu Saada, chairman of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), argued that El-Sadat is guilty of nothing more than exercising his right to express his opinions, and if authorities deem a trial necessary it should be in a civilian, not a military, court. Once parliament resumes its sessions, the People's Assembly's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee is expected to meet promptly to discuss El-Sadat's verdict. The committee will deliberate on Article 96 of the Constitution to see whether it applies to El-Sadat or not. The article states that "no membership in the People's Assembly shall be revoked except on the grounds of loss of confidence or status or one of the conditions of membership, or the loss of the member's status as a worker or farmer upon which he was elected or the violation of the member's mandate." Some committee members could differ over whether the verdict against El-Sadat is enough to consider him in a state of loss of confidence. If yes, El-Sadat, with the approval of two thirds of the Assembly's MPs, could lose his seat. Sorour also stripped Emad El-Galadah, a businessman belonging to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), of his immunity while parliament was out of session. A statement issued by Sorour's office said action was taken against El-Sadat and El-Galadah at the request of the military prosecutor and the justice minister, respectively. While the case against El-Sadat is purely political and is the first of this nature in 30 years, Sorour's decision against El-Galadah will refocus attention on MPs who are involved in high-profile financial scandals. Dozens of members of the outgoing 2000-2005 Assembly had their immunity revoked so they could be investigated for a range of financial malpractices, including issuing void cheques, tax evasion and construction offences. El-Galadah is a wealthy businessman who managed to forge profitable ties with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The NDP deputy for El-Beheira Governorate, El-Galadah has been implicated in the oil-for- food scandal, and was named in a UN investigation as having received substantial amounts of oil coupons from the ousted Iraqi regime since 1999. In 2000, El-Galadah became a major donor to the NDP, and in subsequent years consolidated his wealth, monopolising trade with Iraq, establishing shipping lines with Africa and entering the lucrative field of oil prospecting. On 18 October, Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud decided El-Galadah should face trial on charges of paying bribes and kickbacks to the General Egyptian Petroleum Organisation (GEPO), in return for information about Egypt's oil reserves and plans for future prospecting. The businessman, in his capacity as chairman of the Swiss-based Alex Oil Company, is accused of offering five GEPO officials as much as $500,000 in exchange for insider information, including maps. "Under GEPO regulations," said Abdel-Meguid, "the information and maps were classified." Their release to the defendant provided unfair advantages in tendering international bids to search for oil near the Hurghada resort in the Eastern desert, he added. Mustafa El-Said, chairman of parliament's Economic Affairs Committee, admitted that many businessmen believe their membership in the NDP offers them a safe haven for such financial shenanigans. "The number of businessmen who joined the NDP to promote their business interests is large," according to El-Said, "and Gamal Mubarak's new way of thinking has done little to curb their ambition." At the same time, he asserted that the ruling party shows no leniency when party members go to trial: "The NDP leadership is firm that no businessman is immune to prosecution."
