Former minister Habib al-Adly will face new charges

CAIRO - 4 May 2017 : Mubarak-era Interior Minister Habib al-Adly will face another trial on charges of escaping from security forces after being sentenced to seven years in jail for embezzling Ministry of Interior funds on 15 April, 2017, according to legal sources.

On 17 May, 2017, Cairo’s criminal court rejected the appeal filed by Adly’s lawyer Farid el-Deeb against the seven year penalty. The sentence has not yet been executed since Adly’s whereabouts are currently unknown.

The former interior minister has been considered a fugitive from justice since 16 May, 2017, when the Cairo Prosecution released an official letter notifying Adly that an official attempt to arrest him at his house in 6 October City had been made, but security forces did not find him there.

According to the sources, no official investigation has been held by the prosecution until now. However, the prosecution has listened to several testimonies regarding Adly’s current location from his guards and wife, who offered assurances that he did not escape.

The former minster’s name is still on a travel ban list, as he still has to serve the seven years jail penalty according to the court’s April decision.

In statements to Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper on May 29, 2017, Adly’s lawyer Farid el-Deeb refused to describe his client as a ‘fugitive,’ and said that he is considered to be ‘postponing’ the execution of the judgment against him.