The Cairo Court of Appeals has set 20 April as the date for the trial of former minister of agriculture Youssef Wali and five others for corruption involving land allocation. The defendants face charges of taking bribes from the committee in charge of evaluating the price of lands and facilitating the seizure of land owned by the general authority for agricultural development and construction projects. Some of the defendants face charges of damaging public funds and the illegal use of subterranean waters without permission from the Ministry Of Water Resources and Irrigation. 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.