Egypt's Criminal Court annulled on Wednesday a 2011 decision to freeze the assets of the Mubarak-era Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali and his family, accepting an appeal presented by the former minister. A general prosecutor decision froze the Wali family's assets in what was dubbed the "agriculture minister's corruption case" in the media at the time. The former minister has had several corruption cases against him dismissed, the latest being a case involving business tycoon and influential Mubarak regime figure Hussien Salem in 2017. Salem has reconciled with the government in 2016 following a deal in which he and his family gave up EGP 5.3 billion, reportedly 75 percent of their wealth, to have corruption cases against him dropped. In February 2017, an Egyptian court dismissed corruption charges against Salem and Wali, in a case in which Wali, in office at the time, was accused of selling Salem 36 acres of land on Bayadeya Island in the governorate of Luxor for an undervalued price. Wali was sentenced to ten years in jail in the case in 2012. His conviction was overturned in 2013. Youssef Wali served as minister of agriculture from 1982 until 2004. He also served as deputy prime minister and deputy chairman of Hosni Mubarak's now-dissolved National Democratic Party.
