CAIRO: Former Egyptian Minister of Tourism Zoheir Garranah was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday after he was convicted on corruption, which makes him the second senior official from former President Hosni Mubarak`s regime to be sentenced to jail over corruption. The court ruling can be appealed. Garranah was convicted with “wasting public finances” by allowing two businessmen, who were also sentenced in absentia to five years, to possess plots of lands owned by the state illegally. On Tuesday, Public Prosecutor General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud ordered for the third time the extension Mubarak's detention for 15 days pending the continued investigation of accusations of “illegally amassing wealth and inciting the killing of protesters and exporting gas to Israel at lower prices than international standards.” Mubarak is currently being held at a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh after suffering from health problems and is reportedly being repeatedly questioned by the prosecution. A day earlier, the public prosecutor ordered the extension of the detention of the sons of the ousted president, Alaa and Gamal, for another 15 days on charges of corruption. Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were first remanded into custody on April 13 along with their father, on “illict gains charges and inciting the killing of the protesters during the January 25 revolution.” BM
