A group of political leaders and presidential candidates held a press conference yesterday evening to support activist Ayman Nour, after Egypt's Court of Appeal rejected his request for a retrial Al Ahram reported
The court's decision means that Nour, who was planning to run for president in the upcoming elections, will be left out of the race because of his 2005 conviction for forging documents in order to establish his liberal El-Ghad Party. The decision, which was announced on 16 October, led to a public outcry and accusations that the presiding judge was biased against him.
At yesterday's press conference, Abdel Galeel Mustafa, general-coordinator of the National Association for Change, said the ruling violated political freedoms and that Nour is a long time political activist who fought for years against repression. Mustafa also added that the ruling has no basis in law and was more of a political decision then a legal decision.
The conference was also attended by Salafist possible presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abou-Ismail.
Nour was a member of parliament for Bab El-Shaariya from 1995 to 2005. In 2005, he ran in presidential elections against former president Hosni Mubarak, coming in second with 7 per cent of the vote, according to official figures.