Mubarak-era politician Safwat al-Sheirf turns himself in to court

CAIRO – 7 July 2020: Speaker of the abolished Shura Council under late President Hosni Mubarak Safwat al-Sherif turned himself in to the Court of Cassation on Tuesday fulfilling the conditions for his appeal to get accepted.

On September 9, 2018, Criminal Court of South Cairo sentenced – in a retrial - Sherif to three years in prison in an illicit gains case as well as a fine worth LE99,049,794. His son was a defendant in the same lawsuit but got cleared.

Beforehand, the father and son, Ihab, were handed five years in prison and a fine worth LE209.7 million.

The Court of Cassation accepted the appeal and set the date for the first session of the second re-trial on September 15.

Before taking his last office in 2004, Sherif had been the Minister of Information since 1982. He was initially a military officer who worked at the General Intelligence and the presidency.

Sherif was the chairman of the State Information Service (SIS) between 1978-1980 before chairing the Egypt's national radio and television union. In 2004, Sherif became the secretary-general of the National Democratic Party (NDP), the ruling party under Mubarak.

Post January 25 Revolution that overthrew Mubarak's regime in 2011, Sherif and a large number of parliamentarians and high-ranking officials were charged and sentenced in cases pertinent to corruption and graft.