CAIRO: Egypt's former Information Minister Anas el-Fekki was sentenced to a seven-year jail term for squandering public funds from a state television union. The sentencing is the latest development in the legal investigations of former President Hosni Mubarak's cabinet. The court also sentenced Osama el-Sheikh, the former head of the state television union, to serve five years in prison on the same charges. The court found that Fekki and el-Sheikh squandered 9.5 million Egyptian pounds ($1.6 million) by over budgeting a television drama. The ruling was announced on state television on Wednesday afternoon. Fekky was a controversial figure during the protests that toppled Mubarak earlier this year because the state television channels he controlled created a sinister picture of protests. Authorities detained Fekki last February for the suspected profiteering and corruption charges. He was acquitted of separate charges earlier this month. Prosecutors claimed that Fekki demanded 36 million Egyptian pounds from the finance minister, meant to finance a large pro-Mubarak state television campaign. Fekki is still under investigation for more corruption charges, however. Authorities are investigating a claim that Fekki deprived the Radio and Television Union, which he ran, of about $1.9 million. Fekki allegedly exempted private television stations from live broadcast fees during the 2009-2011 football seasons. Many officials from the former Mubarak regime are under judicial investigation for corruption charges, including Mubarak himself as well as his two sons. Protesters demand that Mubarak and his cabinet are held accountable for their actions. BM
