State Security prosecution decided on Thursday to release former chief of Central Auditing Agency (CAO) Hisham Geneina on EGP 10,000 bail after several days of investigations. However, Geneina refused to pay the bail.
According to one of his defence lawyers, Khaled Ali, Geneina refused to pay bail as he believes the charges against him are only political, and aim to counter his past achievements in the CAO.
Geneina is now referred to a misdemeanour court for trial on charges of harming the economy and disrupting public order.
The charge is directed at Geneina’s statements in which he claimed public funds amounting to EGP 600bn were wasted due to state corruption in 2015.
The statements he made in December eventually led to his dismissal in March. Following the statements that were first published in the media, the Egyptian presidency denied “press reports” and ordered investigations into the claims.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi formed a fact-finding committee led by the head of the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) to examine what was communicated to the press and present its own report for “public opinion”. Al-Sisi sacked the former top auditor on 28 March.
Al-Sisi issued a decree in July 2015 giving him the power to dismiss, replace, and appoint heads of regulatory bodies, despite the Constitution guaranteeing their independence from the state’s executive branch.
Geneina filed an appeal last week against the president’s dismissal decree, arguing unconstitutionality.
