Egypt: Life term for judicial official guilty of graft

An Egyptian court sentenced a senior official in the judiciary to life in prison on bribery and corruption charges in a case that dates back to 2016, the Anadolu Agency reported citing a judicial source.

The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Gamal El-Din Labban, who held the position of purchasing manager at the State Council when he was arrested, to life in prison and ordered him to pay two million Egyptian pounds ($114,000). Labban was convicted of accepting a bribe and abusing his authority.

A life sentence in Egypt is 25 years and the sentence in subject to appeal at the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest appeals court, the source added.

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On 27 December 2016, the Administrative Court Authority, an anti-corruption body, said in a statement that it arrested Labban over a corruption accusation and after 24 million Egyptian pounds ($1.2 million), $4 million, €2 million ($2.38 million), and one million Saudi riyals ($0.27 million) were found at his home in addition to valuable gifts and jewellery.

Last February, the country’s top prosecutor Nabil Sadek referred Labban to the criminal court and the case began in April.