Egypt's Court of Appeal accepted the appeal of former prime minister Ahmed Nazif and notorious former interior minister Habib El-Adly on Wednesday. Both Nazif and Adly were accused of giving a German company a contract worth LE92 million to manufacture license plates for the Egyptian Ministry of Interior, through a direct order and not through public auction as stipulated by law. Both were found guilty and given five year prison sentences. The success of the appeal means both will face a retrial. The court has also ordered the retrial of former tourism minister and business tycoon Zoheir Garana, following an appeal. Garana was sentenced to three years on corruption charges related to issuing licenses to tourism agencies owned by himself and his business acquaintances. Mubarak's chief of staff, Zakaria Azmi, was acquitted by the Court of Appeals after he completed a temporary jail sentence which the Egyptian penal code stated cannot exceed "a maximum period of 18 months." "Azmi will still be held under custody as he is still under investigation in several other cases related to profiteering and abuse of power," Mostafa Hosseiny, Public Funds Prosecutor-General, told Ahram Online.Egypt's Court of Appeal accepted the appeal of former prime minister Ahmed Nazif and notorious former interior minister Habib El-Adly on Wednesday. Both Nazif and Adly were accused of giving a German company a contract worth LE92 million to manufacture license plates for the Egyptian Ministry of Interior, through a direct order and not through public auction as stipulated by law. Both were found guilty and given five year prison sentences. The success of the appeal means both will face a retrial. The court has also ordered the retrial of former tourism minister and business tycoon Zoheir Garana, following an appeal. Garana was sentenced to three years on corruption charges related to issuing licenses to tourism agencies owned by himself and his business acquaintances. Mubarak's chief of staff, Zakaria Azmi, was acquitted by the Court of Appeals after he completed a temporary jail sentence which the Egyptian penal code stated cannot exceed "a maximum period of 18 months." "Azmi will still be held under custody as he is still under investigation in several other cases related to profiteering and abuse of power," Mostafa Hosseiny, Public Funds Prosecutor-General, told Ahram Online.
