A prominent opposition member of the Egyptian parliament was formally detained for four days on Sunday for questioning on criminal charges which his wife and sympathisers said were fabricated for political reasons. Ayman Nour, leader of the Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, was stripped of his parliamentary immunity on Saturday. Police took him off for questioning when he left the parliament building.
The office of the State Security Prosecutor on Sunday ordered him held for four days to investigate charges that many of the documents he submitted with his application for recognition of the party last year were forged.
A judicial source said that during 11 hours of questioning Nour complained that a police officer had punched him in the face, leaving a bruise under his left eye. Nour asked to be examined by a doctor, the source added.
Nour's wife, Gamila Ismail, told Reuters that the charges were fabricated to discredit his party, the largest opposition party with six members of parliament.
"The whole issue is political. It's a very mean political conspiracy to shake the party's image. It's obvious that the regime so far can't bear any genuine party," she said.
Negad el-Borai, chairman of the human rights organisation Group for Democratic Development, said he had doubts about the validity of the formal charges.
"They are afraid of political competition between the (ruling) National Democratic Party and the Ghad Party in the future," he said by telephone from Amman. "This is only my feeling, but the government has started to put pressure on anyone who is talking seriously about political reform."