Egypt court orders retrial of former PM over illicit gains
Xinhua, December 3, 2015 Adjust font size:
An Egyptian court ordered on Wednesday a retrial of former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif who was initially convicted of illicit gains of billions of dollars and sentenced to five years in prison, official MENA news agency reported.
Nazif, who served under former long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak a while before his ouster in February 2011, was convicted in a retrial in July of using his position in making illicit gains. He was ordered to return over 6.2 billion U.S. dollars to the state and pay a fine of about 6.8 billion dollars after being sentenced to five years in jail.
The Court of Cassation accepted his second appeal and ordered on Wednesday that his retrial be held in early February next year.
Mubarak and most of his regime men, including his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, have been in custody following the January 2011 protests, yet they have eventually been acquitted in retrials over charges of corruption, illicit gains and responsibility for killing peaceful protesters.
Mubarak and his two sons were sentenced to three years in jail earlier this year over corruption, but his sons were released later in October as the term was already served while they were in custody since their arrest in 2011. Endit