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| Tycoon and Mubarak Ally Seeks Return to Parliament | Tycoon and Mubarak Ally Seeks Return to Parliament |
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| CAIRO — The steel tycoon who once steered the ruling party for President Hosni Mubarak has filed papers to run again for Parliament in the latest unwinding of the Arab Spring revolt. | |
| The tycoon, Ahmed Ezz, 56, was long reviled here as the personification of the crony capitalism that prevailed under Mr. Mubarak. After Mr. Mubarak’s ouster in 2011, Mr. Ezz was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for corruption, but he was released on bail after an appeals court ordered a retrial just six months ago, in time for parliamentary candidate registration on Sunday. | The tycoon, Ahmed Ezz, 56, was long reviled here as the personification of the crony capitalism that prevailed under Mr. Mubarak. After Mr. Mubarak’s ouster in 2011, Mr. Ezz was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for corruption, but he was released on bail after an appeals court ordered a retrial just six months ago, in time for parliamentary candidate registration on Sunday. |
| “It is as if the revolution never happened from the start,” said Mahmoud Saad, a talk-show host on a private television network that generally supports the government. | “It is as if the revolution never happened from the start,” said Mahmoud Saad, a talk-show host on a private television network that generally supports the government. |
| A close friend of Mr. Mubarak’s son and heir apparent, Gamal, Mr. Ezz was accused of capitalizing on his political connections to buy state-owned steel companies at favorable prices during a wave of privatizations. He had virtually cornered the market on steel, and by 2010 his holdings were worth more than $2 billion. | A close friend of Mr. Mubarak’s son and heir apparent, Gamal, Mr. Ezz was accused of capitalizing on his political connections to buy state-owned steel companies at favorable prices during a wave of privatizations. He had virtually cornered the market on steel, and by 2010 his holdings were worth more than $2 billion. |
| Completing the circle, he used his profits to bankroll a career as a leader of the rubber-stamp Parliament and power broker in the ruling National Democratic Party. | Completing the circle, he used his profits to bankroll a career as a leader of the rubber-stamp Parliament and power broker in the ruling National Democratic Party. |
| During the uprising against Mr. Mubarak, Mr. Ezz’s corporate headquarters was among the first targets. Demonstrators sacked it the same night they burned down the headquarters of the National Democratic Party, where he was secretary general, on Jan. 28, 2011. | During the uprising against Mr. Mubarak, Mr. Ezz’s corporate headquarters was among the first targets. Demonstrators sacked it the same night they burned down the headquarters of the National Democratic Party, where he was secretary general, on Jan. 28, 2011. |
| In an apparent attempt to appease the crowds, the Mubarak government barred Mr. Ezz from travel and froze his assets even before Mr. Mubarak himself was forced to resign. After a council of generals took power, on Feb. 11, 2011, the police moved swiftly to arrest Mr. Ezz on corruption charges. But the military takeover led by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in 2013 has quieted the demands for retribution against Mubarak-era leaders, and there was little outcry when Mr. Ezz left prison last summer. | In an apparent attempt to appease the crowds, the Mubarak government barred Mr. Ezz from travel and froze his assets even before Mr. Mubarak himself was forced to resign. After a council of generals took power, on Feb. 11, 2011, the police moved swiftly to arrest Mr. Ezz on corruption charges. But the military takeover led by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in 2013 has quieted the demands for retribution against Mubarak-era leaders, and there was little outcry when Mr. Ezz left prison last summer. |
| Critics of the new government have lamented that Mr. Ezz is now free while several of the once-celebrated activists who helped lead the Arab Spring uprising are behind bars. | Critics of the new government have lamented that Mr. Ezz is now free while several of the once-celebrated activists who helped lead the Arab Spring uprising are behind bars. |
| Last week, for example, a court sentenced the prominent left-leaning activist Ahmed Douma to life in prison for rioting charges related to the burning of a historic library in Cairo at the end of 2011. More than 200 others received the same sentence after a single mass trial, and 39 minors were each sentenced to 10 years in prison as well, according to the official state news media. (It was unclear how many may have been sentenced in absentia and could be entitled to new hearings if arrested.) | Last week, for example, a court sentenced the prominent left-leaning activist Ahmed Douma to life in prison for rioting charges related to the burning of a historic library in Cairo at the end of 2011. More than 200 others received the same sentence after a single mass trial, and 39 minors were each sentenced to 10 years in prison as well, according to the official state news media. (It was unclear how many may have been sentenced in absentia and could be entitled to new hearings if arrested.) |
| The Egyptian news media reported on Sunday that Mr. Ezz’s wife Shahinaz el-Naggar, another former parliamentarian and a wealthy businesswoman, was also running again. When they married in 2007, she became Mr. Ezz’s third concurrent wife, as allowed by Muslim custom and Egyptian law, and the Egyptian media covered their wedding as major celebrity news. | |
| In a television interview, the newly appointed governor of Mr. Ezz’s home province, Monofeya, advised him not to push his luck. “If I was just a citizen I would say to him, ‘This is enough, you don’t have to run again,’ ” said the governor, Hisham Abdel Baset, adding that Mr. Ezz’s return brought to mind an Arab proverb: “If you escape from the lion, do not try to hunt it.” | |
| Yet Mr. Ezz has always maintained that he committed no crime. “I refute all of the allegations brought against me, and I know that a fair and proper legal process would prove my innocence,” Mr. Ezz said in a statement issued in 2011 through Qorvis Communications, a public relations firm in Washington working for him. | Yet Mr. Ezz has always maintained that he committed no crime. “I refute all of the allegations brought against me, and I know that a fair and proper legal process would prove my innocence,” Mr. Ezz said in a statement issued in 2011 through Qorvis Communications, a public relations firm in Washington working for him. |
| Sunday was the first day for the registration of candidates for the parliamentary elections scheduled for next month. Al Ahram, the flagship state newspaper, quoted Mr. Ezz’s lawyer, Mohamed Hamouda, confirming Mr. Ezz’s intention to run. “There is no legal objection” and “the ballot box is the deciding factor,” Mr. Hamouda said, according to Al Ahram. “This is the democracy we call for.” | Sunday was the first day for the registration of candidates for the parliamentary elections scheduled for next month. Al Ahram, the flagship state newspaper, quoted Mr. Ezz’s lawyer, Mohamed Hamouda, confirming Mr. Ezz’s intention to run. “There is no legal objection” and “the ballot box is the deciding factor,” Mr. Hamouda said, according to Al Ahram. “This is the democracy we call for.” |