An Egyptian court of appeal on Thursday ruled in favor of the government's decision to freeze assets belonging to toppled President Hosni Mubarak and his family members. The assets were frozen by order of the Illicit Gains Authority (IGA) after the uprising that topped Mubarak from power in February. However, the IGA later sought confirmation of the legality of its decision, presenting the matter to a court of appeal for consideration. The court's decision applies to the assets of Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, sons, Alaa and Gamal, daughters-in-law, Haidy Rasekh and Khadija al-Gamal, and grandsons, Omar and Farida. Mubarak and his sons have been charged with corruption in ongoing criminal trials. Mubarak is also charged with complicity in the killing of about 850 protesters during the 18-day uprising that ousted him from office. Assem al-Gohary, head of the IGA, is also heading a committee working to repatriate assets siphoned abroad by Mubarak and his family. On 29 September, the committee became a plaintiff in the case accusing Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, former Tourism Minister Zoheir Garana and businessman Yassin Mansour of creating a money laundering ring. Last week Gohary said the committee had learned that Alaa and Gamal Mubarak have US$340 million (nearly LE2 billion) in Swiss banks, US$300 million of which belongs to Alaa. Switzerland has already frozen the assets of the Mubaraks and other figures from his regime, which Gohary has estimated at nearly US$450 million. The committee previously relayed this information to the IGA so that it could freeze the Mubarak family assets. The IGA then asked an appeals court to hold an urgent hearing to consider and support the freeze. Translated from the Arabic Edition
