Abboud el-Zomor, who was sentenced for 15 years for his role in the the assassination of Egypt's late president Anwar Sadat in 1981, will have his appeal decided by the Court of Cassation on 16 May. While el-Zomor had served his sentence, the interior ministry refused to release him, saying he still has to serve a sentence of ten years for another crime. El-Zomor filed an appeal with the Cairo Criminal Appeal Court, which in turn rejected it. El-Zomor's defense say the law stipulates that an offender should only serve the more severe punishment if he is indicted for different crimes. "El-Zomor should have been released in 2001," says his defense team leader Nazar Ghorab. "He is the victim of political and not judicial antagonism." "I hope the court finally releases him and all other political prisoners who have served their time," said el-Zomor's wife, Um el-Haytham. "It would be a gesture of good will on the part of the regime." Translated from the Arabic Edition.
