The state-run MENA news agency on Tuesday said the Military Prosecution has asked the Justice Ministry to lift the parliamentary immunity of Zyad Elelaimy, an MP who is accused of insulting Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
Elelaimy is a member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party.
A judicial source told Al-Masry Al-Youm in March that the public prosecutor was referring a complaint against certain activists and public figures to the Military Prosecution to investigate charges of tarnishing the reputation of the armed forces.
The complaint was signed by 732 people accusing the activists of attempting to overthrow the government.
At a public rally in Port Said in February, Elelaimy used a famous Egyptian proverb: “He couldn’t beat the donkey so he beat the saddle,” meaning that if the main source of a problem cannot be confronted, others will be found to take the blame.
Elelaimy said, “Tantawi is the donkey,” implying his responsibility for the deaths of Egyptians in clashes and protests following the Port Said Stadium violence, when 74 people were killed after a football match.
The Academy of the Arabic Language said in March that Elelaimy had not insulted Tantawi, explaining that the proverb merely pinpoints a primarily person who is responsible for a certain error, but does not insult that person, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.
