Mona El-Nahhas delves into the Byzantine manoeuvres surrounding Ayman Nour's petition for early release On Tuesday, the Cairo Administrative Court adjourned hearings on the early release of opposition leader Ayman Nour until 3 July. Nour, former chairman of the liberal Al-Ghad Party and a candidate in Egypt's first contested presidential election, is serving a five-year jail term on charges of forging signatures in order to have his party legally registered. The opposition political leader suffers from diabetes, heart problems and hypertension and last year underwent heart surgery while in prison. His lawyers had requested his release on parole given his ill-health. During Tuesday's hearing, the court linked Nour's case to that of Ahmed Mazloum, who is also seeking release on health grounds. The two cases, said the court, should be heard in tandem, and any judgement will have to wait for the official medical report into Mazloum's medical condition. The court asked Nour's defence team to submit documents proving that continued detention threatened Nour's life. Any release on health grounds remains conditional: i.e. should the prisoner's health improve sufficiently following release he would be returned to prison. Not expecting that the court would delay its ruling, Nour's wife Gamila Ismail left the courtroom, in obvious distress, accompanied by her two sons, Nour and Shady. Ihab El-Kholi, chairman of the liberal Al-Ghad Party and one of Nour's lawyers was disappointed following the ruling. "Sorry, I'm not going to talk," El-Kholi told reporters in an exhausted tone. However, Nour's lawyer Amir Salem told reporters following the court session that he accepted Nour's case being linked to that of Mazloum. During the hearing the judge had repeatedly stressed that Nour was being treated as an ordinary prisoner, a move interpreted by many observers as an attempt to distance the court from growing international pressure -- most notably from the US -- for Nour's release. There are fears American calls for Nour's early release could backfire. Two days before Tuesday's session the State Jurisdiction Authority filed an appeal before the Higher Administrative Court contesting the Cairo Administrative Court's right to hear Nour's case. But the appeal, says Salem, can have no effect on the hearing of Nour's case since appeals do not suspend final rulings. The Administrative Court had earlier ruled that it is the only body authorised to hear Nour's petition suing the prosecutor- general for failing to release him. The case has led to an unseemly struggle between Egypt's various legal authorities over who has the right to preside. Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud insists it is his prerogative to decide whether or not Nour is released. Abdel-Salam Gomaa -- head of the court panel which initially sentenced Nour in December 2005 -- claims the same right. Many legal experts believe the battle over prerogatives is being orchestrated with the aim of avoiding the implementation of any ruling should the court find in Nour's favour. The legal dispute surrounding the case together with the medical report issued on 13 June by the state's Forensic Medicine Authority -- which contradicts independent reports compiled by leading forensic specialists who concluded Nour's health condition necessitates his release -- are being interpreted as evidence of the regime's stubbornness to condone Nour's release from detention.
