A Cairo appeals court postponed Thursday the case of Hisham Geneina, former head of the Central Auditing Organisation (CAO), to 20 October, state media reported.
The former top auditor is appealing against a verdict sentencing him to one year in prison and a fine, as he was convicted of spreading false information regarding the amount of corruption in the country.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi dismissed Geneina from his post in March over press statements in which the auditor was quoted saying that corruption in 2015 exceeded EGP 600bn. A presidential Fact-Finding Committee investigating the claims concluded that such incorrect information led to the “defamation of state apparatuses”. Geneina came under fire in a heavy pro-state media campaign.
However, Geneina did obtain the support of some human rights advocates, most notably lawyer Negad El-Borai who viewed the state’s reaction to Geneina’s claims as a lack of political will to combat corruption, and his dismissal an arbitrary decision.
Regulatory bodies are independent institutions according to the constitution, but Al-Sisi issued a decree allowing him to appoint or dismiss the heads of those bodies.
