An Egyptian court acquitted former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly of graft charges yesterday, judicial sources said, the latest ruling to clear a prominent figure from the era of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
While the courts have been gradually absolving Mubarak-era officials, they have been handing down lengthy sentences to liberal and Islamist activists in cases ranging from protesting to committing acts of violence.
Adly, who was charged with illegal profiting and squandering 181 million Egyptian pounds ($23.72 million) of public funds, was acquitted last month along with former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif in a separate graft case.
Defence lawyer Farid al-Deeb said his client had no other cases against him and should be freed.
Courts have been handing lengthy sentences to Islamist activists
Adly, a long-serving official at the head of Egypt’s feared internal security apparatus, appeared in court wearing a blue suit and sunglasses. Judicial source said a freeze on his assets had been lifted.
Adly was cleared last year along with Mubarak and six aides of charges related to killing protesters during the 2011 uprising which had led to their downfall.
Meanwhile the trial of two Al Jazeera television journalists was adjourned until March 25 yesterday after the court ordered the creation of a new technical committee to review their work
The decision came after expert witnesses, who had previously said the Al Jazeera reporting had harmed national security, admitted they had not seen all the video collected as evidence.
Mohamed Fahmy, a naturalised Canadian who has given up his Egyptian citizenship, and Egyptian Baher Mohamed are charged with aiding a terrorist organisation – a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The court heard testimony from a committee of technical experts that had said last year the Al Jazeera journalists had broadcast footage that was harmful to Egypt’s security. The judge said a new committee would have to be formed when the witnesses said they had not seen all the available footage before they had signed their damning report.
“I did not see them and I did not write a report on them,” Mohamed Abdel Hakim, president of the original committee, said when asked about some of the videos. Outside of the courtroom, the defendants expressed cautious optimism.
“Today I think our biggest success is that the technical committee has collapsed and they have contradicted everything they’ve said,” Fahmy told reporters.
Fahmy and Mohamed were released on bail last month after spending more than a year in detention. A third Al Jazeera journalist, Australian Peter Greste, was deported earlier in February.
“An encouraging start to our #AJRetrial. Prosecution witnesses said nothing that suggests we were criminals or terrorists,” Greste said on his Twitter feed as he followed the case from abroad. The three were originally sentenced to between seven and 10 years in prison on charges including spreading lies to help a terrorist organisation.