Former Minister in Morsi govt jailed for wasting public money

A former Egyptian Information Minister in the regime of ousted President Mohamed Morsi was today sentenced to 10 years in prison for wasting public money and causing serious damage to the state over USD 6.7 million.

Salah Abdel-Maksoud was sentenced to 10 years in prison along with former head of radio engineering at the Egyptian TV Amr Abdel Ghafar el-Khafif by the Cairo Criminal Court for wasting public money by misusing transmission equipment and causing a serious damage to the state that exceeded 48 million Egyptian pounds.

The duo had refused to withdraw the state TV broadcasting trucks from the Rabaa al-Adawiya Square, occupied by pro-Morsi supporters protesting his removal, in July-August last year, which led to Rabaa protesters using the trucks to broadcast their protests for another channel.

Investigations showed that the defendants refused to withdraw the trucks from Rabaa sit-in area, although the protesters attacked the staff and stole the trucks on July 3 and used it to broadcast the protests to another satellite channel, which caused serious damages to the state exceeded 48 million Egyptian pounds.

Both the defendants were ordered to pay USD 5 lakh.

Since Morsi's ouster last year, the Egyptian government has been cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters.

Thousands of Morsi supporters and Muslim Brotherhood members have been rounded up and put on trial since the army deposed the Islamist leader last year following massive street protests against his rule. He was the first democratically elected head of state in Egyptian history.

In March, 529 Muslim Brotherhood members were sentenced to death for killing a police officer in last year.

Morsi himself is currently in prison over charges of killing peaceful protesters, espionage, escaping from prison during the January 25 Revolution in 2011, insulting the judiciary. Recently, he was charged of spying and handing documents of national security importance to foreign intelligence. He has not been sentenced in any case so far.