Egypt holds Mubarak-era information minister in custody pending court hearing

Egypt’s Court of Cassation yesterday ordered Mubarak-era minister of Information, Safwat El-Sherif, to be held in custody pending the hearing of an appeal he filed against a three-year prison sentence, local media reported.

In September 2018, a retrial held in the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced El-Sherif to three years in prison and a fine worth 99,049,794 Egyptian pounds (nearly $6 million) on charges of illicit gains.

Egyptian newspapers said El-Sherif; the former parliament speaker under the late President Hosni Mubarak, handed himself in to the Court of Cassation yesterday to fulfil the conditions for the acceptance of his appeal.

READ: I am worried about Egypt

The court set 15 September as the date the appeal will be heard, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

El-Sherif, 87, along with several Mubarak-era officials faced charges of corruption and illicit gains among others, however a majority of them were acquitted or had their sentences reduced.