Egypt's Court of Cassation has granted long-time Mubarak-era Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif a retrial over charges of illicit gains. Nazif served as prime minister under former President Hosni Mubarak from 2004 to 2011, resigned during the 25 January popular uprising against the regime. The Cairo Criminal Court in September last year sentenced Nazif to 3 years in prison and fined him LE9 million on corruption charges. The Illicit Gains Authority had referred the former premier to court based on allegations he had illegally obtained gifts from press organizations and that he breezed his wife and sons into government posts. Nazif, who served under ousted President Hosni Mubarak, was also accused of abusing power to amass LE64 million in assets that included property, shares in telecommunication firms and high-end automobiles. The ex-PM's defence lawyers pleaded not guilty in last year's session, calling for Nazif to be acquitted. The defense cited Article 166 of Egypt's constitution, stating that a prime minister or any other minister cannot be charged with wrongdoing without approval from the president, the public prosecutor, and two-thirds of parliament representatives. Lawyers argued that the charges against Nazif had been filed by the Justice Ministry's IIlicit Gains Authority before the approval of the current constitution. A number of former officials from Mubarak's regime have been granted retrials over corruption charges and, in some cases, had charges dropped after repaying illegally gained fortunes. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
