Egyptian Attorney General Abdel Magid Mahmoud today launched an motion in the Court of Cassation appealing a Cairo Criminal Court verdict acquitting former Minister of Communications Anas al-Fiqi and former Minister of Finance Youssef Boutrous, both of whom were charged with siphoning 9 million EGP (U.S. $1.5 million) from the governmental emergency fund for media parliamentary campaigns. Egyptian public prosecutor Imad Abdullah found 18 grounds to reverse the ruling, including corruption and interference in the application of the law. The criminal court ruling found that the Cabinet of Ministers decision to create the public emergency fund – designed to combat negative government publicity – did not come with specific parameters as to who and how the funds could be allocated. Al-Fiqi was acquitted using the Law of Radio and Television Union No. 13 of 1979 (amended by Law No. 223 of 1988). This law allows the government to create campaigns detailing governmental achievements. The law, however, does not permit siphoning of funds from the Ministry of Finance to use for such media purposes. Public money for this purpose was approved by the prime minister, the ruling continued, but the public prosecutor noted that such approval was only extended to the second defendant, Boutros, and not al-Fiqi. Evidence shows that only 529,681 EGP (U.S. $88.974) was used to film a National Democratic Party (NDP) conference. Al-Fiqi denied responsibility for this cost, alleging that the head of the News Radio and Television was responsible, despite the approval given by al-Fiqi. The appeal also states that the verdict did not properly take into account the testimony of the prosecution's witnesses, including Chairman of the Central Budget in the Ministry of Finance who testified that spending from the department of general and emergency reserves does not extend to media campaigns for the ruling party or government.
