Egypt’s Top Auditor To Be Tried For Libeling Justice Minister

Central Auditing Agency (CAA) head Hisham Geneina and two journalists were referred to a criminal court on Monday on charges of libeling Egypt’s justice minister.

The charges stem from an article published in the liberal Al-Wafd newspaper last September in which the paper’s Editor-in-Chief Magdi Sarhan quoted Geneina in accusations that Justice Minister Abdel-Hamid was involved in a financial corruption scheme. Another editor at the paper, Tahani Ibrahim, has also been charged with libel in the case.

The article was titled “Minister of Justice, remove your sash,” referring to the ceremonial garment that judges wear in Egypt.

Geneina was referred to court for similar charges last November along with two other journalists for libeling the Egyptian Judges’ Club, an unofficial group which includes the majority of the country’s judges.

His appointment as CAA chairman came during the term of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, after almost a year since the last CAA permanent head, judge Gawdat El-Malt, completed his tenure.

The CAA is a governmental body that supervises public finances and has been consistently accused of covering up financial crimes carried out under the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

Source : Ahram