A senior official at a top Egyptian media body was arrested as part of a bribery investigation with a senior judge, the Adminstrative Control Authority said in a statement on Tuesday. This came hours after the arrest of the secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council for Media Regulation Ahmed Selim on charges of bribery. The Giza criminal court judge was referred to High State Security Prosecutors on suspicion of accepting a EGP 3 million ($180,000) bribe to rule in favour of a defendant in a drug and weapon trade case, the authority said. That bribery probe revealed that Selim was involved in a separate incident where he asked for a bribe to grant an operation license to a privately-owned satellite TV channel, the authority added, without mentioning his name. Selim was aided by a former head of specialized Nile channels of Egypt's state TV who had allegedly bribed the judge before. Investigations also showed that a number of employees at different courts have been implicated in bribing the same judge. Selim is currently being questioned by prosecutors. The case is the latest in a string of corruption cases brought by the Administrative Control Authority, the country's anti-corruption watchdog, against top state officials in recent months. Those charged include the former head of the Egyptian Customs Authority, the head of the state Food Industries Holding Company, and a number of supply ministry officials. In April, Egyptian authorities detained the head of Old Cairo district over bribery charges, according to state news agency MENA. In November, a former governor of Menoufiya was sentenced to 10 years in prison for accepting a bribe of over EGP 27 million.
