Judge Essam Al-Gohary, head of the Illicit Gains ‎Authority, believes that those who do ‎not have a legal background should not talk about illegal profiteering cases, saying some ‎figures stirred up public anger because of their inaccurate statements.‎
    
‎“What I heard while watching satellite channels was really sad,” he told a press ‎conference Wednesday. “There were guests on many programmes who have no legal ‎experience, although they claim otherwise. ‎

‎“At the end, the public opinion became misled as people think that what they say is ‎true, which causes unrest. But the street won’t control the decisions of the Illicit ‎Gains ‎Authority.”‎

The conference was held to explain the reasons behind the release of figures accused ‎of accumulating illegal profits, including Suzanne Mubarak who was released after ‎submitting documents proving that her Heliopolis villa is owned by ‎a sovereign body, ‎and that her bank accounts were donated in her ‎name as Egypt's ‎former first lady to be spent on charity projects.‎ 

‎“There is a difference between dealing with a defendant and dealing with a case,” Al-‎Gohary explained. “Detaining a defendant, or freeing him or her, is not the end of the ‎case.‎

‎“Someone said on a TV channel that the release of Suzanne Mubarak without ‎guarantee means the case is put on hold, which is untrue. She might be referred to the ‎Criminal Court or arrested again on other charges.‎

‎“The law stipulates that a defendant must be detained only in three cases: if he or she ‎was caught while committing the crime, has a chance to flee or has not known an ‎occupation. Most of the figures accused of illicit profiteering are banned from ‎traveling.”‎

Speaking of the Mubaraks and other defendants, Al-Gohary said: “Gamal Mubarak ‎asked for some time to release information he said to be dangerous. We also got ‎statements from toppled president Mubarak.‎

‎“New evidence against Zakaria Azmi emerged, so the decision to release him was ‎appealed against.”‎