Egypt’s Giza Criminal Court declined Thursday to renew a detention order issued against former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif on illicit gains charges.
Nazif received a three year prison sentence and was ordered to pay a fine of LE4.57 million in September 2012 for using his political status to boost his personal wealth. The sentence was overturned by Egypt's Court of Cassation 13 June. The court ordered a retrial, but no date for this was set.
The Giza Criminal Court decision will see Nazif released until retrial. Mustafa Dwedar, the Public Prosecution’s spokesperson, told Ahram Online that Nazif remained accused of five financial corruption charges, but the authorities await the report of experts who are tasked with evaluating them.
Nazif, who served under former president Hosni Mubarak from 2004 to 2011 as prime minister, was arrested shortly after the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak in February 2011.
Short link: