An Egyptian court on Sunday convicted a leading National Democratic Party member and two journalists of "insulting" Judge Walid al-Shafei, president of the committee charged with overseeing Egypt's last parliamentary elections.
Al-Shafei had reportedly alleged that the elections were rigged in favor of the ruling party.
MP Momena Kamel and journalist Hisham al-Mayani of independent daily Al-Shorouq were sentenced to one month each in prison and fined LE10,000 each, while Amr Khafagy, chief editor of the same newspaper, was fined LE5000.
In an interview with the newspaper, MP Kamel had called al-Shafei “a liar" who is "mentally unstable."
Al-Shafei had told the president of the High Elections Committee that parliamentary polls conducted in Cairo's 6 October City had been rigged in favor of Kamel and her colleague in the party, Nermin Badrawi.
Egypt's public prosecutor in December referred Khafagy and al-Mayani to trial on charges of libel and defamation of a public official.
