Second retrial for the killers of singer Tamim

CAIRO // An Egyptian business tycoon who was convicted of ordering the 2008 murder of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim has won a second retrial, according to a court ruling yesterday.

Hesham Talaat Moustafa, a former member of parliament and chairman of the property developer Talaat Moustafa Group, was originally sentenced to death by hanging for his role in paying Dh7.3 million to an Egyptian man, Muhsen El Sukkari, to kill Tamim in her Dubai home. Tamim was said to have been Moustafa's estranged lover.

Moustafa's sentence was commuted to a 15-year imprisonment in 2010. The retrial was granted after defence lawyers claimed evidence in the case had "inconsistencies". No reason was given for the new retrial, which is set to begin on February 6.

Egyptians were enthralled by the original criminal trial, which touched on issues of power, wealth and corruption under the Mubarak regime. Moustafa was a powerful member of Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party. The Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm ran the headline "The trial of money and power" on the first day of the trial, capturing the sense of drama in the case.

Prosecutors revealed that El Sukkari, a former Egyptian state security officer, tricked Tamim into opening the door to her apartment in a Jumeirah Beach Residence building by posing as a member of the building's staff. She was later found with stab wounds and a 20-centimetre slash across her throat. Dubai Police found security camera footage of El Sukkari inside the building at the time of the murder.

El Sukkari, whose case is also being re-heard in the new retrial, originally received a life sentence for the murder.

Both men have maintained their innocence.

Moustafa's motive in hiring El Sukkari to kill her was revenge, according to the indictment. It was revealed in media reports that Tamim had broken off a romantic relationship with Moustafa.

bhope@thenational.ae

* With additional reporting by Reuters