- EGYPTFJP News
- May 24, 2012
- 11 minutes read
Press Release No. 4 of Dr. Morsi Central Campaign
On the first day of the presidential elections, the balloting process has gone smoothly, in quite a satisfactory manner, marred only by a few incidents and irregularities. The legal committee of presidential candidate Dr. Mohamed Morsi’s campaign took all necessary legal actions regarding those incidents and violations.
Some media outlets have persisted in campaigns of slander and disinformation, in a desperate attempt to mislead public opinion. Some have published as news totally unfounded stories. Dr. Morsi’s campaign has already responded to those. Moreover, events and facts on the ground have proven those stories to be just fabricated fables:
1 – Reports were published about arrest of Dr. Morsi supporters for illegal electioneering in the city of Damanhur – in Beheira province. In fact, public prosecution released all those unconditionally and returned their computers that had been confiscated by security services.
2 – In Beni Suef governorate, Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) sources said that there was no truth whatsoever to allegations made by the "Life Now" program on Hayat satellite TV channel. Hayat claimed that a number of FJP members had beaten a voter casting his ballot for a certain candidate.
It has been proven, however, that the incident involved two drivers: Mahmoud Mohamed Gouda and Mohamed Ali Ezzat, and that it had nothing to do with the electoral process at all. Moreover, neither driver belonged to the FJP.
3 – A report was published about the presence of ballots marked in favor of Dr. Morsi. The proven facts show that the representative of Dr. Morsi had asked the polling station’s judge to take legal action against the culprits in that incident. This has been done already.
4 – Reports were circulated about the exclusion of a group of judges due to propaganda activities in support of Dr. Morsi. In fact, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Presidential Elections Committee (SPEC) Hatem Begato denied all that.
– Dr. Morsi’s campaign files lawsuits against Al-Watan newspaper and Mobinil Telecom company
The FJP and Dr. Morsi campaign’s legal committee submitted formal complaints to SPEC against Mohamed Al-Amin, Chairman of Al-Watan newspaper, and Magdy Al-Gallad, the editor-in-chief.
The complaints are about a report published by Al-Watan in its issue No. 25, on Wednesday May 23, 2012 in which it claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood "earmarked LE12 million pounds (US$2 mil) for gifts to be distributed to voters".
The newspaper published false information claiming also that the Brotherhood called on members of the group to use Zakat (alms) and charity funds to finance the electoral process, without a shred of evidence to prove the allegations so contained in the words of the editor and editor-in-chief.
Meanwhile, Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maksoud, legal adviser to Dr. Morsi’s campaign said that the legal action came as a result of the newspaper deliberately publishing false stories as news, which can influence the voters and distort the image of Dr. Mohamed Morsi.
The central campaign of ‘Dr. Morsi, for President of Egypt’ calls upon all media outlets to hold the interests of the country higher than any narrow private gains, and to commit to professional ethics and the honorable mission of journalism.
The campaign further confirms that it works around the clock, cooperating with media figures, reporters and journalists, in order to deliver accurate information in the interest of transparency for the public opinion.
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The legal committee also made a formal complaint to SPEC against Mobinil Telecom. The company had sent messages to its customers misinforming them with fabricated news of a certain candidate overtaking Dr. Mohamed Morsi in ballots by Egyptians abroad, which was of course totally untrue. It is well known to everyone, that Dr. Morsi beat Abul Fotouh with a wide margin.
In its complaint, the legal committee stressed that publishing such rumors and lies at this time would certainly harm the homeland, and is in no-one’s interest.
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– A judge at Nasr School polling station in Helwan Gardens (in Cairo) stops the vote 3 hours before closing time
The judge supervising voting station No. 37 for women at the Nasr Elementary School in Helwan suddenly decided to stop the voting process ahead of schedule by about three hours.
His decision came amidst a state of congestion and overcrowding within the polling station.
Witnesses confirmed that the judge collected ID cards from voters waiting in lines, without giving any reasons.
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– This evening, in the ‘Sixth of October’ city, the campaign of presidential candidate Dr. Morsi, with the help of police officers, stopped a car using loudspeakers to urge voters to choose Dr. Mohamed Morsi for president.
In the car, the police, together with some members of the campaign, apprehended an Egyptian man accompanied by a Jordanian friend. It transpired that the uncle of the former is a police officer.
In an official statement, the men admitted that they did not belong to the campaign of Dr. Mohamed Morsi. The police kept both the car and its occupants in custody while the public prosecution investigates the whole incident.
– Ten hired thugs tried to prevent voters from entering polling station to cast their votes at the Naguib Mahfouz School in the ‘Sixth of October’ city. A number of voters chased the thugs away and broke the siege they lay around the voting place.
– This evening, in Giza, in front of Aziz Al-Masri School, three girls stood wearing t-shirts emblazoned with photos of Dr. Morsi. The girls took pictures of themselves in front of several polling stations pretending to engage in propaganda for the candidate.
In response, a group of representatives of Dr. Morsi’s campaign filed a formal complaint against them. They were charged with impersonation of supporters of a presidential candidate.
– Despite the official approval of SPEC for representatives of candidates to spend the night inside the headquarters of the polling stations, some heads of voting sites, in several provinces, especially Cairo, refused to let those representatives stay overnight notwithstanding the official authorization they held.
