The Cairo Criminal Court accepted the prosecution’s appeal against the release of Muslim Brotherhood businessperson Hassan Malek and another two defendants pending investigation in the case known in the media as “damaging national economy”.
The court further renewed the defendants’ detention for 45 more days.
On Thursday, the Criminal Court released the defendants on a EGP 20,000 bail, but the prosecution appealed the decision.
Malek has completed over two years in prison, as he was arrested in October 2015 on charges of attempting to smuggle foreign currency out of the country in order to increase the US dollar crisis. He is also facing accusations of leading an illegal group with the intention to oppose state institutions.
The State Security Prosecution also charged Malek with organising meetings with Brotherhood members abroad in order to destabilise the Egyptian economy.
This isn’t the first time for Malek to face detention, as he was previously sentenced to prison in a military trial in 2006 prior to the 25 January Revolution. Also in 1992, Malek was sentenced to one year in prison in a corruption charge that involved his technology company.
In 2011, he was pardoned and released. All his assets were unfrozen a year following the revolution as the army strengthened its relation with the Islamists who took power in 2012.
