President of the Central Auditing Organisation (CAO) Hesham Geneina will be called in for interrogation on 18 January over accusations of defamation leveled in a lawsuit filed by Justice Minister Ahmed El-Zend.
Earlier on Tuesday, TV presenter Wael Al-Ibrashi was called in for interrogation in the same case for having hosted Geneina on his programme. El-Zend accused them both of defaming his personality, state-owned media Al-Ahram reported Tuesday.
The issue dates back to November 2014, when Geneina criticised the justice system and the Judges Club of which EL-Zend was the president before being appointed minister. However, the lawsuit against Geneina was only filed recently.
Issues between the officials have been ongoing over the past two years, as EL-Zend repeatedly accused Geneina of distorting the image of the judicial system, and targeting El-Zend personally.
Pressure on Geneina continues to increase. Controversy and debate attended Geneina after the Egyptian presidency, among other state bodies, denied the financial figures of state corruption proffered by the head of the CAO in an interview.
Hisham Geneina was appointed by ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2012. The head of the organisation serves a term of four years, subject to renewal.
