Cairo court sentences Ezz, Assal and Rashid

Cairo’s criminal court, headed by Justice Mustafa Hassan Abdullah, has today sentenced the Egyptian businessmen and Secretary of the National Democratic Party, Ahmed Ezz, and the former-head of the Egyptian industrial development authority, Amro Assal, to ten years’ jail on charges of corruption. Both men were found guilty of collaborating to provide licences without paying fees. The court fined Ahmed Ezz and Assal 660 million Egyptian pounds (US$110 million) each. The fugitive former Minister of industry and trade, Rasheed Mohammed Rasheed was also sentenced in absentia to 15 years jail for the same charges. The court believes that the three squandered 660 million Egyptian pounds (US$110 million) of state funds.      Rasheed was fined a further 414 million Egyptian pounds (US$69 million). Rasheed, who is the subject of an international arrest warrant, has already been sentenced to five years’ jail for squandering public funds and a further five years’ jail for embezzlement in previous cases. His whereabouts are unknown.