Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

Brotherhood Lawyer: Al-Shater Legal Position Perfectly Clear, Solid

Contrary to what certain ‘pessimist’ Egyptian media have been circulating in the past few hours, legal expert Abdel-Maksoud believes Al-Shater’s bid for the presidency is absolutely clear and sound, from the legal perspective.

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Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maksoud, the Muslim Brotherhood's lawyer, said that he will receive candidacy papers for Khairat Al-Shater, the presidential candidate nominated by the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and the Brotherhood, on Sunday morning, from the headquarters of the High Judicial Elections Commission for Presidential Elections.

Abdel-Maksoud said that all legal documents and procedures required for Al-Shater, Deputy Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, to exercise his full political rights, especially the right of candidacy and voting, have been completed over the past few days.

Those legal actions pertain to Case No. 2 of 2007 Military Offenses, known in Egyptian media as the "Azhar Militias Case", in which Al-Shater was perversely sentenced to seven years in prison, of which he spent about 4 and a half years, and was released for medical reasons in March 2011, days after the January 25 revolution.

A few days ago, the Supreme Military Court issued a ruling conclusively exonerating Deputy Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood Al-Shater of all charges in Case No. 8 of 1995 Military Offenses, known in Egyptian media as the “Brotherhood Shura Council Case”, in which Al-Shater was perversely sentenced to five years in prison for “revival of a banned group”.

According to the provisions of law and the Constitutional Declaration, any convict can be exonerated with a ruling issued by a criminal court, while military justice is the competent authority for exonerating any person convicted by military courts in accordance with the rules and procedures set forth in Law No. 2 of 1969 concerning exonerating prisoners of military court sentences.

According to the law, exonerating or clearing the name of a person results in deleting all records of the wrongful conviction and cancellation of all consequent actions, restoring all the civil rights he was deprived of due to the perverse verdict.