The suggestion that former regime officials may be able to buy their way out of prison has left many angry, writes Mona El-Nahhas Finance Minister Momtaz El-Said's 13 March revelation that the government was considering offers by Mubarak-era cronies currently incarcerated in Tora prison to return illegally obtained assets in exchange for sentences against them being annulled and any further charges dropped provoked widespread anger. "In light of the current budget deficit and decrease in reserves retrieving these funds is clearly in the national interest," El-Said told reporters following a cabinet meeting during which the issue was discussed. He added that a precise figure for illegally acquired funds held abroad was unobtainable, and noted there was no legal impediment to settling cases involving financial corruption through a reconciliatory process. Steel tycoon and close Gamal Mubarak associate Ahmed Ezz, former housing minister Ahmed El-Maghrabi and fugitive businessman Hussein Salem are among those seeking deals. Ezz was sentenced to 10 years in prison in September, El-Maghrabi received a five-year jail term last May and Salem was handed a 15-year sentence in absentia. Other leading figures from the Mubarak regime are said to be interested in negotiating deals once legislation is in place guaranteeing they will face no legal questioning in the future. Legal experts question El-Said's assertion that there are no legal barriers to such deals. "The penal code does not permit reconciliation in cases involving the looting of public money or the abuse of power to secure illicit gains," Hisham Geneina, deputy chief justice of the Court of Cassation, told Al - Ahram Weekly. The current law only allows reconciliation in cases involving tax and customs evasion, in which instance, says Geneina, "the suspect has to reimburse all due monies or, in some instances, double the amount as a fine". Geneina opposes any legislative amendments to permit reconciliation in cases of financial corruption which would, he says, "be tantamount to legalising criminal activity". The Free Egyptians Party has said it would not oppose former regime figures returning funds and assets in return for charges being dropped. It would, however, be against any reconciliation in criminal cases, according to party member Ahmed Khairi. It could be many years, say those who have voiced tacit support for the scheme, before final court rulings against regime fraudsters are handed down, and even then will offer no guarantee that looted funds will be returned. Tagammu Party spokesman Nabil Zaki argues that "getting back these funds will help Egypt overcome the economic crisis it faces". The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) remains opposed. "It is unacceptable to reach deals with those who looted billions," says FJP Chairman Mohamed Mursi. "The fact that they are seeking reconciliation should be treated as an admission of their crimes and they should be punished accordingly." "Anyone found guilty of amassing a fortune at the expense of the public should be punished," says MP and possible presidential candidate Abul-Ezz El-Hariri. "Only then will others be deterred. The return of assets that have been looted should be pursued with the full force of the law." The 6 April Movement has denounced any possible deals with those guilty of corruption as another attempt by Egypt's current rulers to undermine the 25 January Revolution.
