Egyptian minister arrested on allegations of corruption

Egyptian authorities yesterday arrested the country’s Minister of Agriculture Salah Helal, after he was asked to resign in connection to an investigation into corruption, security officials said.

A security source, who spoke to the Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity, said: “On Monday, the administrative watchdog in Egypt [an independent watchdog authority which has the right of judicial seizure] arrested the Minister of Agriculture, Salah Helal, minutes after the acceptance of his resignation by the Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab.”

Helal “resigned on the orders of the president,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

“He was arrested as part of an investigation into a major case of corruption in his ministry,” local news agencies reported. A video of the moment of his arrest can be found here.

Officials at the ministry are alleged to have taken bribes to help businessmen illegally acquire state land, a prosecution official and media reports said.

The prosecution service had last week banned media from publishing any information about the case.

Helal was appointed minister of agriculture during the last cabinet reshuffle in March 2015.