[JURIST] The nephew of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat [CNN profile] was sentenced to a year in prison by a military tribunal Tuesday for his comments implicating the military in the assassination of his uncle over 25 years ago [BBC archive]. Talat Al-Sadat, a politician from the small Al-Ahrar [BBC backgrounder] opposition party, has protested the trial [JURIST report], as the military tribunal did not permit him to have a defense team. The media was barred from the proceedings and Egyptian newspapers have been instructed not to report on the trial.

Sadat is the second political opponent of President Hosni Mubarak [official profile] to be jailed in the past year. Former presidential challenger Ayman Nour [JURIST news archive; BBC profile], was sentenced to five years in prison [JURIST report] in December after being convicted of forging signatures required for his name to appear on presidential ballots. Sadat's conviction stems from his insinuations to the press [Aljazeera report] that Mubarak and other senior Egyptian military officials were involved in his uncle's murder. An appeal of the tribunal's verdict is not permitted, meaning that a pardon from President Mubarak is Sadat's only recourse. AP has more.