Court issues gag order on murder of Egypt’s top prosecutor

Cairo Criminal Court has imposed a media gag order on the case of the assassination of the country’s top prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, in 2015 — the second such order in the case.

Hisham Barakat, 64, was killed when a car bomb struck his convoy in the east Cairo upscale district of Heliopolis on 29 June last year.

The court imposed Wednesday a media gag order on the case. The decision includes all information, documents and investigations pertaining to the case, but excludes the proceedings of the trial hearings.

Some 67 people are being tried in the case. They face charges of “belonging to a terrorist group,” “premeditated murder” and espionage with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

The first hearing of the case was postponed to 13 July.

This is the second time a gag order has been imposed on the case. Acting prosecutor general Ali Omran issued a gag order in July 2015 when a probe was underway by the prosecution before the case was referred to court.

source: Ahram Online