Egypt Court Upholds Jail Term for Morsi’s PM

A Cairo appeals court has upheld a one-year sentence handed to former Egyptian prime minister Hisham Kandil, in the latest blow to ousted president Mohamed Morsi’s inner circle.

Khaled Hassan, the judge at Monday’s session, said the prison sentence must now be carried out.

Kandil is accused of failing to execute a court ruling ordering the annulment of a public company’s sale and the reinstatement of its employees.

The sentence against Kandil related to a 2011 court ruling demanding the government repurchase textile company Tanta Flax and Oils from a Saudi Arabian investor who bought it in 2005.

Officials in the Kandil government had said renationalising state enterprises was not straightforward and the company had been broken up since it was sold to the foreign investor.

An unpopular prime minister, Kandil has kept a low profile since Morsi’s overthrow by the army on July 3.

Earlier this month, prosecutors ordered the freezing of Kandil’s assets and he was prevented from leaving the country pending the investigation.

Egypt’s army-installed authorities have launched a massive crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood that has seen hundreds killed and over 2,000 jailed.

Morsi, Egypt’s first elected president, is himself in jail, as is the leadership of his Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Source: Reuters