Egypt court overturns sentence against Mubarak-era interior minister

In this file photo, former Interior Minister Habib Al-Adli (R) leaves the courtroom at the police academy where he was on trial in 2012. (Reuters)

CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Thursday quashed the conviction and prison sentence for alleged corruption against ex-Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly and ordered a retrial, judicial sources said.
A criminal court had sentenced Al-Adly, who served under former President Hosni Mubarak before his fall to a popular uprising in 2011, to seven years in prison in April after convicting him on charges of abusing public funds.
The Court of Cassation, Egypt’s top court whose decisions cannot be appealed, threw out Al-Adly’s conviction over procedural errors and ordered a retrial at a different criminal court, the judicial sources said.
His lawyer, Farid El-Deeb, told Reuters that the decision allows for Al-Adly, who did not attend the hearing, to be freed without further legal procedures.
A copy of the April verdict obtained by Reuters showed that Al-Adly and two other ministry officials were ordered to refund a total of 1.95 billion Egyptian pounds ($109.83 million) and were fined the same amount.
Meanwhile, more than 500 of Egypt’s 596 lawmakers have signed “recommendations” for President Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi to run for a second, four-year term in this year’s elections.
El-Sissi has not announced his candidacy, but he is virtually certain to contest, and win, the March vote.
Under the constitution, at least 20 elected members of Parliament must formally recommend a presidential hopeful to allow him or her to qualify as a candidate. Alternatively, 25,000 recommendations from voters must be collected, with a minimum of 1,000 in 15 of Egypt’s 29 provinces.
El-Sissi has said he will announce his candidacy after receiving feedback on his track record since taking office, without elaborating. His office this week invited Egyptians to submit questions online for him to answer on live television.