An Egyptian Court of Appeals has sentenced a journalist, Ahmed al-Tantawi and 22 of his supporters to one year in prison. The court upheld a February 2024 sentence issued by the Matareya Misdemeanors Court against Ahmad and his supporters.

The Court of Appeals verdict also upholds a five-year ban on Tantawi from running in elections.

Tantawi, a former member of the People’s Assembly of Egypt, was arrested in court to serve the sentence.

In February 2024, under Case no. 16336, Tantawi and his campaign manager Mohamed Abo al-Diyar were convicted of inciting others to influence the conduct of the electoral process through the provision, printing, and circulation of electoral process papers without the permission of competent authorities.

The 21 other members of Tantawi’s campaign were convicted of printing and circulating electoral papers without permission.

The case was opened in reaction to Tantawi’s call in October 2023 for his supporters to fill out popular endorsement forms for his presidential bid, given the restrictions they faced in registering their endorsements at public notary offices,

Tantawi now joins a list of other former presidential candidates who were imprisoned or put under house arrest for challenging Sisi in the 2018 elections.