CAIRO: On Wednesday May 2, Mortada Mansour, former chairman of Al-Zamalek Sports Club and ex-parliament member, was charged with a three year jail sentence by the Dokki Misdemeanors Court. Mansour was trialed and charged for insulting Al-Sayed Nofal, the president of the State s Council. Mansour s wife was interviewed Wednesday night on the "Al-Ashera Massa'an talk show, on Dream TV2, and stated she was shocked by the sentence that she perceived as harsh and more than the action warranted. Mahmoud Khaled, Mansour s lawyer, called the show and said that the appeal date was set by the court before he asked for it. The appeal is set to take place on May 16. Ayman Younis, a football commentator, ex-Zamalek and Egypt midfielder, and Egyptian Football Association Board Member told The Daily Star Egypt that the charges do not by any means affect the image of the Egyptian sports society. According to Younis, the crime that Mansour was convicted of has nothing to do with the sports field. It is a legal matter that was investigated within a respectable legal environment, Younis said. Although, as Younis has indicated, the event will have no effect on the Al-Zamalek Sports Club, the situation is very hard on Mansour s fans and family members. Younis claimed that reactions post the announcement of the verdict varied inside Al-Zamalek Sports Club. Some turned against Mansour after hearing about what he did, while others got upset and found the verdict too harsh and other still were happy. Zakaria Abdel Aziz, president of the Judges Club, told The Daily Star Egypt that there should be no comments on a court s verdict. The verdict is the sole indicator of the truth, Abdel Aziz said. The problem started when Mansour and some of his supporters bolted into Nofal's office at the Supreme Administrative Court of the State s Council headquarters a month and a half ago. Nofal accused Mansour of aggravated assault against a public servant and defamation of the Egyptian judicial system. Mansour's attack was provoked by the court ruling that upheld the former Minster of Youth, Mamdouh Al-Beltagi, to remove him from his post as chairman of Al-Zamalek Sports Club.
