News / Egypt

Egypt top appeals court finds Mubarak-era PM not guilty

Wednesday, 04 May 2016 4:27 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 04 May 2016 4:25 PM ]

Egyptian ex-premier Ahmed Nazif (R) leaves the courtroom following his retrial at Cairo's police academy on February 24, 2015. (AFP photo)

Egypt's court of cassation has acquitted the last prime minister of ousted dictator, Hosni Mubarak, of corruption charges, overturning his five-year jail sentence.

On Wednesday, Egypt's top appeals court acquitted Ahmed Nazif of illegally profiting 64 million Egyptian pounds ($7.2 million).

Nazif had been sentenced to three years in prison in 2012 over the charges but was given a five-year jail sentence in July 2015 after a retrial ordered by the court of cassation.

Both rulings were canceled by the court of cassation, which issued Wednesday's final acquittal.

A judicial official and the former PM’s lawyer, Wageeh Abdel Malak, said that the Wednesday ruling cannot be appealed. The court is yet to release its reasoning.

In February, Nazif was also acquitted in another corruption case. He is not on trial in any other cases, according to his lawyer.

The acquittal comes as most of the government officials, who were put on trial after the ouster of Mubarak in 2011 uprising, have been cleared of corruption charges.

This comes as many activists and dissidents who took part in anti-regime rallies which led to the revolution have been sentenced to jail terms.

On Wednesday, prominent activist Sanaa Seif was sentenced to six months in prison for "insulting a member of the prosecution” as she did not attend a hearing session, a judicial official said.

This file photo taken on August 28, 2014 shows jailed Egyptian sibling activists Alaa Abdel Fattah (2L) and Sanaa Seif (R) gesturing after they were granted permission by authorities to attend the funeral of their father Ahmed Seif el-Islam, in Cairo. (AFP photo)

A prosecution had summoned Seif on suspicion of inciting protests in April against President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi over his decision to transfer the sovereignty of two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Egyptian police arrested at least 382 people in the days leading up to and during April 25 mass protests against the decision.

Despite the ability to appeal the verdict, the activist said she will turn herself in and not contest the ruling.

"Simply, I do not have the energy to deal with their measures," she said on her Facebook account.

The Wednesday ruling comes a few months after Seif’s release from prison by a presidential pardon in October 2015. She had been serving a sentence for taking part in a protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo in 2014.

The Egyptian government has been cracking down on opposition since former president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted in a military coup led by ex-military chief and current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in July 2013.

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