(AFP File Photo \Egyptian TV)
The Giza Criminal Court acquitted Thursday former interior minister in the Mubarak regime, Habib Al-Adly, in a corruption case.
In the case, Al-Adly had been accused of illicitly obtaining EGP 181m.
According to state-owned media, Al-Adly is to be released from detention in a matter of days. His release follows in the steps of several other Mubarak-era regime figures who have also been released after facing corruption charges.
The Court also ordered that the freeze on the funds for Al-Adly and his family be lifted. Investigations had initially found the former minister guilty of illicit gains and corruption, however, his initial 12-year sentence and LE 15m fine were lifted.
Al-Adly was also accused, along with former president Hosni Mubarak, of killing protesters; last November both men were cleared of the accusation.
In a testimony he gave in front of Court last August, Al-Adly said: “I never gave orders to kill … I gave strict rules to sticking to water and gas only to disperse the sit-in.”
When referring to the 25 January Revolution, Al-Adly stated: “The whole plot against Egypt was planned by foreigners such as Hamas to take place in the ‘Arab Spring’ in cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood to take over the country. The plot had its strategies and goals.”
The former interior minister said the police killed protesters “under suspicion of terrorism”, after the protesters had allegedly smuggled ammunition into the country from Palestine. The protesters also stole police clothes, he claimed.
