(AFP File Photo)
By Marina Makary
Egypt’s Illicit Gains Authority (IGA) appealed Tuesday over the acquittal of former interior minister Habib Al-Adly on corruption charges.
In a meeting held on Tuesday, the IGA described Al-Adly’s acquittal as a “legal flaw”. In a memorandum of appeal prepared by a committee of advisers in the inspection and investigation of the IGA, he called on the verdict to be cancelled. The governmental-led entity also demanded a re-trial.
Al-Adly had been accused of illicitly obtaining EGP 181m, which was the last case against the former minister, but he was acquitted of the charges on 19 March. The court later released details citing the insincerity of police investigations and non-existence of evidence of abuses of power as the main reasons behind the acquittal.
The court had ordered that the freeze on the funds for Al-Adly and his family be lifted. After investigations had initially found the former minister guilty of illicit gains and corruption, his initial 12-year sentence and LE 15m fine were lifted.
The IGA referred Al-Adly to court in 2011, after investigations showed that he had accumulated wealth that exceeded his income.
The former minister was previously cleared of similar corruption charges in the “licence plates” case, in which Al-Adly and former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif were accused of “squandering public funds and profiteering”.
Mubarak’s strongman Habib Al-Adly, who was interior minister from 1997 to 2011, was also accused of killing protesters during the 25 January Revolution, along with former President Hosni Mubarak and other security aides. However, in November 2014, both were cleared of the accusation.
Al-Adly’s release follows several other Mubarak-era regime figures, who have also been released after facing corruption charges.
