Egyptian authorities jail sacked corruption czar

By Rabie al-Sokkari and Sayed Fathi

CAIRO (AA) – Egypt’s Supreme State Security authorities late Thursday jailed Hisham Geneina, former head of the government’s main auditing agency who was sacked in March by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi after raising alarm bells about rampant corruption.

Geneina, who is currently being held at a police station in eastern Cairo, is expected to be tried before a misdemeanor court Tuesday.

Defense lawyer Osama al-Sheshtawi told Anadolu Agency that the order to jail Geneina was issued after the latter had refused to post bail of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (roughly $1,000).

Geneina faces charges of sharing "inaccurate numbers" related to Egyptian government corruption.

Geneina’s lawyers say their client had refused to post bail because he believed the charges against him were "politically motivated".

On March 29, the Egyptian presidency sacked Geneina, who in January had sparked a controversy after saying that Egyptian government corruption from 2012 to 2015 had cost the country a whopping 600 billion Egyptian pounds.

President al-Sisi reacted by drawing up a "fact-finding commission" that accused Geneina of "falsifying information" and "distorting facts".

Last week, Geneina filed a counter-suit against al-Sisi challenging the legality of the president’s decision to sack him.