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Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 July 1999 Issue No. 438 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 July 1999 Issue No. 438
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Immune to corruption?
By Gamal Essam El-DinOne month into its summer recess, the People's Assembly Legislative and Constitutional Committee decided on Sunday to reject requests to strip three deputies of their parliamentary immunity so that they could be investigated for allegedly issuing worthless cheques. The committee, however, has allowed Ahmed Amin El-Kayati, a member of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) for Al-Minya Governorate, to testify before the Cassation Court on alleged illegal profiteering charges. Parliamentary rules dictate that the assembly's permission be sought before MPs can answer prosecution or court questions.
Following long discussions, committee members, acting upon the request of Justice Minister Farouk Seif El-Nasr, agreed that it is better for El-Kayati to testify to protest his innocence of financial malpractices and securing illegal profits.
"The committee's rejection of the justice minister's request could lead some to say that members use their immunity to evade investigation by prosecution and judicial authorities on corruption charges," said Mohamed Moussa, chairman of the Legislative Committee. "We know that most requests to drop MPs' immunity are usually based on malice, especially with the approach of the general elections in November 2000. But we also know that it is better for deputies to testify before prosecution and judicial authorities. If the investigation proved they were guilty of corruption, we could then decide to strip them of parliamentary immunity."
According to a memorandum submitted by Seif El-Nasr, El-Kayati deliberately failed to mention many personal possessions in his financial avowal. These include 58 feddans owned by him and his three sons in Al-Minya Governorate, a flat in Cairo's Nasr City district, a Mercedes car and a 225-metre plot of land in the city of Maghagha in Upper Egypt. Defending himself before the committee, El-Kayati said that most of these possessions were bought a long time ago. He said he owes the Principal Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit (PBDAC) LE250,000. He asserted that the submitted request to lift his immunity is based on malice because one of the legal counsellors at the Cassation Court was his rival in the previous parliamentary elections. Following long deliberations, the committee members came to an agreement that El-Kayati's possessions were not big enough to justify the charge of illegal profiteering. However, they said it was better for him to testify before the court.
The three deputies who are suspected of issuing worthless banking cheques are Ragab Helal Hemeida, the sole representative of the Liberal Party and two businessmen, Mahmoud Azzam and Mohamed Oukasha, NDP deputies for Al-Saff district in the Giza Governorate. The request submitted against Hemeida was based on a complaint filed by Mostafa Kamel Murad, the former chairman of the Liberal Party, accusing Hemeida of issuing a worthless LE9,000 cheque. Hemeida said Murad died in August 1998, while the request alleged that the cheque was signed in November 1998. "This shows that the request was clearly based on malice because it is submitted by Talaat El-Sadat, his rival for the presidency of the Liberal Party," Hemeida said.
As for Oukasha, he was accused of issuing worthless cheques amounting to LE1 million, but he proved that he had paid back the money.
Azzam, facing the seventh request to drop his immunity, was accused of issuing three worthless cheques valued at LE750,000. He asked the committee to give him a short period of time to prove that the cheques were settled, as most of them are concerned with old financial transactions.
