(AFP FILE PHOTO / Stringer)
The Court of Cassation upheld a 28 year prison sentence for Sabry Helmy Nakhnoukh on Monday, reported state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram.
Nakhnouk, dubbed the “Prince of Thugs” by the media, was sentenced by the Alexandria Criminal Court in May 2013 to three years for possession of drugs with the intention of drug use and a further 25 years for possession of unlicensed weapons, forgery, and breeding wild animals.
Upon his arrest police discovered five lions in metal cages, six dogs, four horses, and an ostrich in his villa outside of Alexandria, as well as weapons, hashish, and cash (EGP 56,995, $3,060, and LBP 4,000).
Nakhnoukh suggested at the time of his arrest in August 2012 that he was targeted for political reasons, as he claimed he had documents that would damage the reputation of Muslim Brotherhood politician Mohamed Al-Beltagy and other senior figures. Nakhnoukh and Beltagy engaged in a war of words and exchanged accusations at the time.
The Brotherhood and its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, have since been dissolved by the Egyptian authorities.
