File Photo: Salah Diab(Photo: Al-Ahram)
Egypt's Criminal Court cancelled on Wednesday a previous decision to freeze the assets of businessmen Salah Diab, Mahmoud El-Gammal and 16 others, with the freeze now only applying to the assets in a New Giza housing compound project.
Salah was arrested last week from his home after being accused of possessing unlicensed firearms at his house, and is also under investigation for corruption in the sale of state-owned land where the New Giza housing project is located.
Diab, who is currently being detained for 15 days pending investigations, is also the owner of Egypt's largest-privately owned daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The Public Funds Prosecution Bureau received a complaint in 2011 that Diab and the other suspects had acquired agricultural land on the Alexandria Desert Road from the agriculture ministry at very low price, and built tourist resorts on those plots in violation of the contract.
Farid El-Deeb, Diab's lawyer, said in media statements that he expects that the 70-year old businessman will be released soon.
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