Feb 24, 2015

Egypt Mubarak-era ministers Adly and Nazif acquitted

Former Premier Ahmed Nazif (second on the right )leaves the Cairo courthouse after he was cleared (24 February 2015)

Ahmed Nazif (second right) faces no further charges after being cleared by the court
Mr Adly was sentenced to five years in prison while Mr Nazif was given a one-year suspended sentence at their first trial.
It was not clear whether Mr Nazif faced other charges after being cleared at the retrial on Tuesday. The state-run newspaper al-Ahram said he did not, but in 2013 a court ordered that the former prime minister be retried on charges of illegally acquiring land and squandering public funds.

Mr Adly is currently standing trial on a separate corruption charge, but has been cleared of a string of other offences, including conspiracy to murder of hundreds of protesters in 2011.
Meanwhile, Egyptian activists who spearheaded the uprising against Mr Mubarak have complained that political dissent is being stifled.
One leading figure, Alaa Abdel Fattah, was jailed on Monday for violating a controversial law restricting protests that was introduced following the military's overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.
On Tuesday, it was announced that President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi had approved a new anti-terrorism law that give the authorities the power to act against any individual or group who harm national unity or disrupt public order, an apparent reference to protesters.