(Photo Public Domain)
Prosecution has ordered the arrest of former Minister of Information Salah Abdel Maqsoud on Wednesday.
The former minister of the President Mohamed Morsi era is wanted for investigations regarding six broadcast vehicles belonging to state-run television, which were reportedly overtaken by Morsi supporters at the time of the Rabaa sit-in, state-run MENA reported. The trucks belong to the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, commonly referred to as Maspero, which estimated the value of damage to the trucks to be around EGP 40m.
It is believed that some of the vehicles were damaged and others burned.
Last month, prosecution extended the investigative detention of Amr Al-Khafif, a Maspero official, by 15 days. Al-Khafif is being investigated for the damage caused to the six vehicles after the dispersal of the pro-Morsi sit-ins. He was charged with deliberately damaging public funds and profiteering, the state’s news agency reported.
In a separate case in June, Abdel Maqsoud was ordered to repay a sum of EGP 269,000 by an Alexandria based court to the state’s treasury. The court ordered that the sum, which Abdel Maqsoud reportedly received in the form of incentives, was a violation of Law no. 100 of 1987 its amendments pertaining to Law no. 8 of 1989, which determines the salaries and representation allowances for executive authorities.
Abdel Maqsoud served as Minister of Information from August 2012 to July 2013, when he was replaced by Dorreya Sharaf El-Din, the first female to hold the position. Several protests were held against Abdel Maqsoud during his tenure because of remarks he made last April that were deemed as verbal sexual harassment of a reporter. Women and Journalism students protested in anger at his remarks.
