Egyptian contractor and actor Mohamed Ali has returned to the forefront of events in Egypt again, where activists launched a label for his support after the Egyptian authorities demanded that his Spanish counterpart extradite him on the back of accusations and allegations of tax evasion.
The "Support Muhammad Ali" social media website was issued in Egypt, and Twitterers said that the Egyptian authorities wanted to take revenge on this contractor because of his political activities.
In September last year, rare demonstrations took place in central Cairo demanding the departure of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, in response to an invitation by this actor who broadcast video clips on communication sites in which he spoke of "presidential deficiencies, corruption and waste of public money" caused by Sisi and army leaders.
A few days ago, Ali said that on July 9, the Spanish authorities summoned him to appear before the judge to investigate a judicial note sent by Cairo accusing him of tax evasion.
Political charges
The pioneers of the communication sites interacted with the contractor issue, and they rejected the Egyptian authorities' attempt to deport him from Spain, stressing that moving the issue of tax evasion is not with criminal intent but for political purposes.
Activists traded Ali's pictures with expressions of support and backing, and others recalled the corruption cases that the Egyptian contractor had spoken of and had not been investigated yet.
Some of them felt that the pursuit of this representative by the Egyptian authorities targeted all opposition voices, especially those abroad, as they represent a continuous inconvenience to this regime, which succeeded in suppressing the internal opposition.
# Support _ Muhammad_ Ali because he exposed the corruption of the system before the whole world and not before us .. # Support _ Muhammad_ Ali
because he sacrifices his life because our country is free from injustice and corruption. pic.twitter.com/D8nLscVuS1
- A well-known saying @ (@TOJYAMEl) July 16, 2020
Support Muhammad Ali against the injustice done to him and the Egyptian people # Support_Mohammed Ali Ali pic.twitter.com/sWWZjScfCR
- ❁ Shamrukh 🇪🇬 (@FreeEgyOfficial) July 17, 2020
All support for my son free rebellious in order to support the national occupier of Lashkar - e - traitors
where you are free to support you , this free man
I am Lara Nasrallah close Anasro O Brother people
support please 👇 # Adem_mamed_ali pic.twitter.com/rRijv2NIXC
- Free Egyptian ✌ (@ DQZVzcIzBcH6tzn) July 16, 2020
Ask for support
In an intervention with Al-Jazeera channel Mubasher, he denounced the charge of tax evasion, stressing that he was working for the army and the presidential institution, which are bodies with which work requires settling all legal papers, including taxes.
He expressed his belief that Sisi and his son, Mahmoud, the intelligence officer, will not leave him, especially after his call to demonstrate last September, and his exposure to corruption and Sisi's waste of public money on presidential palaces and personal interests.
The contractor confirmed that the threatening letters received him daily with the death, appealing for help because he could not assign an international lawyer to defend him because he did not have enough money for that.
Two days ago, the New York Times saw that the request to extradite the representative submitted by the Egyptian authorities to Spain is part of its efforts to use legal tools and other available means to silence the most prominent opponents of Sisi abroad who are outside the grip of his security services.
The newspaper pointed out that since 2013 the Egyptian authorities have submitted many requests for extradition and arrest warrants to European and Asian countries to return the symbols of the opposition they are in to Cairo, and most of these attempts were unsuccessful, but they led to the arrest of some of those personalities and the freezing of their bank accounts in some countries such as Albania Ukraine and India during their fight against deportation.
According to the report of the American newspaper, the file of a request for extradition of Ali - which Egypt submitted to the Spanish judiciary and consists of 20 pages - includes many of these accusations, and he alleges that he concluded real estate deals in 2006 "without announcing part of his sales" and demands Madrid to return him to Cairo for trial on charges Money laundering and tax evasion.
The New York Times reported on Ali denying the accusations, and said, "I left Egypt two years ago and no one stopped me. If I had been a fraud, why did they allow me to leave the country?" He expressed the hope that the Spanish judiciary will stand against the Egyptian authorities, because Spain is a just country that defends human rights.