Al-Adly, who ran Mubarak’s security services for more than a decade before the strongman’s overthrow in February in the face of 18 days of mass protests, was convicted of money-laundering and illicitly enriching himself while in office.
The conviction of Al-Adly was the first against any of the some two dozen Mubarak-era Cabinet ministers and regime-linked businessmen who have been detained since Mubarak’s Feb. 11 ouster. They include a former prime minister, speakers of Parliament’s two chambers and Mubarak’s two sons, all suspected of corruption.
Al-Adly is separately facing allegations that he had ordered the deadly use of live ammunition against unarmed protesters during the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak. If convicted on that charge, he would face the death penalty. Mubarak himself and one of his two sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal, face the same allegations.
Al-Adly was ushered into a black cage in the courthouse for the brief sentencing. Riot police and soldiers surrounded the courthouse on the outskirts of Cairo and two commandos were stationed in the small courtroom that was packed with journalists and police. Judge Al-Mohamadi Al-Qunsuwa, himself flanked by bodyguards ever since he sentenced a former senator and construction tycoon to death for the murder of a pop singer, entered and asked whether Al-Adly was present.
The former Interior Minister, dressed in white prison garb, replied in the affirmative and Al-Qunsuwa read the sentence. “The court has ruled that Mohammed Habib Al-Adly will be punished with seven years in prison for profiteering,” said the judge. On the second charge of money-laundering, he sentenced Adly to five years.
The court also fined Al-Adly 15 million Egyptian pounds ($2.5 million) and ordered his assets confiscated. A correspondent did not identify any members of Al-Adly’s family in the courthouse and his lawyer Farid Al-Deeb, who is also representing Mubarak, was absent.