A criminal court in Cairo has sentenced the former housing minister to five years in prison for corruption, a spokesman for Egypt’s general prosecutor said Thursday.
Ahmed Maghrabi is the latest official to be convicted following a widespread probe by Egypt’s general prosecutor into allegations of fraud and corruption among president Hosni Mubarak’s senior leadership.
A judge also ordered Maghrabi to pay a $12 million fine, said Adel Saeed, a spokesman for the general prosecutor’s office.
Maghrabi was arrested along with other ministers in February after Mubarak was forced from office following massive demonstrations that began in January over widespread complaints of corruption, low wages and rigged elections.
Mubarak and his two sons will face trial before a criminal court for the killings of protesters and the waste of public money, the general prosecutor’s office said this week.
Mubarak is being charged with consenting to a plan to kill protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on January 25, Saeed said. Mubarak ordered police officers to use live ammunition while they fired into the crowd of protesters, he said.
The former president could be executed if he is convicted of ordering the killing of protesters, Egyptian Justice Minister Mohamed Abdelaziz al-Juindy said earlier this month.
Mubarak has been held in a military hospital in Cairo since mid-April, after complaining of heart palpitations and blood pressure problems.
Former Interior Minister Habib El Adly was handed a 12-year prison sentence this month for corruption and faces a separate trial for his alleged role in ordering the killings of protesters.
An Egyptian police officer accused of killing 20 protesters during a January 28 demonstration was given a death sentence Monday.
A military council led by Defense Minister Mohammed Tantawi took power from Mubarak and has pushed Egyptians to return to work.
But protests have continued as Egyptians have demanded better pay and working conditions.