(AFP Photo / Gianluigi Guercia)
By Menna Zaki
The Court of Cassation accepted Sunday the appeal of Hesham Qandil, former prime minister under ousted president Mohammed Morsi, against the verdict of one year imprisonment.
Qandil was sentenced to one year imprisonment by the Dokki Misdemeanour Court in April 2013 for not implementing a court order annulling the privatisation of Tanta Flax and Oil Company which was sold in 2005 to a Saudi investor. The court’s verdict ordered Qandil to step down from his position as a prime minister and included a bail of EGP 2,000.
The former prime minister was also banned from travelling in September 2013 due to his connection with a corruption case that involved 205 feddans of land in the Fifth Settlement in Cairo.
According to state-run Al-Ahram, Yasser Mahmoud Abdo, Qandil’s lawyer stated that the court’s verdict to acquit Qandil is final and cannot be appealed. He added that Qandil is released from prison as he is not charged in any other case. Accordingly he is expected to be released Sunday.
