Market manager freed
THE PROSECUTION on Tuesday released manager of Hyper One market chain branch of Sheikh Zayed Fekri Al-Hawari on LE10,000 bail after he was accused of insulting top state institutions and claiming close ties with senior state officials. According to the prosecution’s report, investigations revealed that leaked videos of Al-Hawari were filmed over 10 years and were taken out of context. The prosecution obligated Al-Hawari to appear before investigative bodies once he was summoned and assigned a technical body to examine two mobile phones seized in his possession.
The audio recordings and videos have been circulating on social networking sites, raising question marks about corruption in Egypt. Following Al-Hawari’s arrest Hyper One market chain owner Mohamed Al-Hawari denied any kinship connection with the accused.
The arrest of Fikri Al-Hawari came just two days after the start of the trial of Karim Al-Hawari, son of Mohamed Al-Hawari, on charges of killing four youths while driving above the speed limit under the influence of drugs.
Fekri Al-Hawari was said to be behind the attempt by Karim’s lawyers to steal surveillance cameras that recorded details of the deadly car accident. Karim’s second trial will be held on 5 February.
Enterprise funding
THE SAUDI Grant Management Committee, an affiliate of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), last week signed three agreements with Egypt to contribute LE300 million to the financing of small, medium and micro enterprises. The deals were signed at the headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation at the end of the Saudi committee’s three-day meetings in Cairo. The signing ceremony was attended by head of the Saudi Grant Management Committee Hassan Al-Attas, deputy of the Saudi ambassador in Egypt Mohamed Al-Tamimi and Saudi Commercial Attache in Cairo Zayed Al-Asmari. The Industrial Development Bank is contributing LE100 million, with LE100 from the Banque du Caire and LE100 million from the Enmaa finance company, the Saudi press agency reported. Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat praised strong Egyptian-Saudi ties, adding that she is looking to open new horizons for partnership with the kingdom in the framework of supporting Egypt’s national development agenda.
CBE deadline extended
THE CENTRAL Bank of Egypt (CBE) extended the validity of decisions previously made in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic for another six months, ending in 30 June 2022. According to a statement, the decisions include exempting customers from all expenses and commissions related to bank transfer services in the Egyptian pound. They also include issuing e-wallets for free, exempting citizens from commissions and fees for transfers, and issuing prepaid cards free of charge. The decisions also included exempting customers from fees and commissions related to cash withdrawals. Customers will also be exempted from fees related to cash withdrawal from ATMs. Merchants and sellers will be exempted from fees for activating electronic collection services via the Internet (e-commerce). The CBE indicated that extending the deadline aims to ensure the continuity of business and encourages customers to use electronic payment methods, supporting the state’s policy to move into a cashless society.
Commercial removed
CITROEN Egypt, the Egyptian agent of the French car brand Citroen, last week withdrew a TV commercial from all channels after it was widely slammed as inappropriate for encouraging sexual harassment. “We deeply regret and understand the negative interpretation of the ad,” Citroen Egypt said in a statement, adding that they present their sincere apologies to all offended communities by the film. The ad, released in the first week of December, highlighted a feature in Citroen C4 which can capture photos. It shows Egyptian superstar pop singer Amr Diab driving the vehicle before coming to a stop for a young lady crossing the street. Diab taps the front windscreen, resulting in a photo of the girl being taken without her knowledge and sent directly to his mobile phone. The ad sparked widespread anger on social media platforms, with many women’s rights activists describing it as clear encouragement of sexual harassment and accusing Diab of objectifying women. Speak Up, an Egyptian platform fighting sexual harassment, shared the video under the caption “taking a photo of someone without their consent is a crime”. The company published on its official Instagram page a statement apologising to the public and stressing that it does not tolerate harassment in any form.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 6 January, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
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