Egyptian court acquits Mubarak-era tourism minister Zuhair Garana of corruption

Ahram Online , Wednesday 17 Apr 2019

Zuhair Garana
File Photo: Egypt's former minister of tourism Zohair Garana (Photo: Ahram)

A Cairo criminal court acquitted former tourism minister Zuhair Grana on retried corruption charges on Wednesday, a judicial source said, in the final trial the ex-minister was a defendant in.

Garana was initially sentenced to three years in jail for granting illegal licences to tourism companies in a case that dates back to 2011, following the revolution that ousted president Hosni Mubarak. He was arrested shortly after the uprising but was later released pending trial.

He has been acquitted in two other corruption cases: in November 2017, a Cairo court acquitted him of charges of illicitly gaining around EGP 19 million (approximately $1.1 million at current rates) during his tenure as minister from 2005 to 2011.

Earlier that year, Egypt's top appeals court overturned a five-year prison sentence against the ex-minister in another case where he was convicted of corruption and violating laws by illegally granting lands to businessmen in the Red Sea resorts of Hurghada and Ain Sokhna.

Several Mubarak-era figures arrested following the 2011 uprising have been cleared of charges. 

 

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