CAIRO, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- An Egyptian court ordered the arrest of former presidential hopeful and head of the opposition al-Ghad party Ayman Nour and six of his aides until Saturday.
The court judge, Abdel Salam Jumaa, gave no reasons for the arrests, but Egyptian judges have a tradition of arresting defendants prior to probable conviction.
Nour's defense lawyer, Amir Salem, told United Press International that the decision of arresting Nour and his aides until Saturday "indicates that they will be convicted and sentenced on that day."
Nour and his aides have pleaded not guilty to the charges of falsifying documents and forging signatures for winning the licensing of the party by the committee of party affairs in October 2004.
Nour, a member of parliament, was arrested last January for 41 days after his parliamentary immunity was lifted.
The liberal politician came second to President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential elections last September.
He won 7.9 percent of the votes versus 88.6 percent for Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981.
