Egypt arrests former anti-graft czar Hisham Geneina

By Husein al-Qabbani

CAIRO (AA) - Egypt’s former anti-graft czar, Hisham Geneina, was arrested Tuesday -- two days after claiming that a former army chief-of-staff had documents implicating top state officials in illegal activity.

Ali Taha, a lawyer for Geneina, told Anadolu Agency that his client had been arrested from his home in eastern Cairo and was now facing interrogation by state security and military prosecutors.

The Interior Ministry has yet to comment on the issue.

But the Egyptian army announced late Monday that it would request permission to question both Geneina and Sami Anan -- a former army chief-of-staff and would-be presidential candidate -- in regards to the alleged incriminating documents.

An icon of judicial independence, Geneina formerly served as head of Egypt’s Central Auditing Organization (CAO), which is tasked with monitoring government expenditures.

After publicly accusing the Egyptian authorities of massive financial corruption from 2012 to 2015, Geneina was unceremoniously removed from the post in 2016 by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Late Monday, Nassir Amin, a lawyer for Anan, denied statements attributed to Geneina that his client was in possession of documents implicating top state officials.

Last month, the army prohibited Anan from contesting presidential elections slated for March.

Shortly before, Geneina had announced his intention to work on Anan’s aborted presidential campaign.