The former head of Egypt’s Central Auditing Organization, Hisham Geneina, has been referred to a military trial 16 April, his lawyer Ali Taha announced on Thursday.

Geneina has been detained since his arrest in February pending investigations by military prosecution over claims he made in an interview with the Huffington Post that former military chief of staff Sami Anan possesses documents containing state secrets and evidence relating to major events since 2011, and that those documents could be released if anything happened to Anan.

Anan has been detained by authorities since January pending investigations into accusations of committing a series of violations and crimes, including inciting against the military and forgery.  He has denied Geneina's claims through his lawyer.

Geneina was a leading figure in the short-lived presidential election campaign for Anan before the National Elections Authority removed his name from the voters' registry list as it determined he was still an active member of the armed forces, thus effectively barring him from running for president in the polls that took place in March.

The Egyptian armed forces had slammed Geneina’s claims, saying the matter will be referred to investigators to take the necessary legal action against both former officials and that it would "use all constitutional and legal powers to preserve national security.”