CAIRO // A court sentenced the once-feared Egyptian interior minister Habib al Adly to 12 years for corruption yesterday in the first trial of an official from the regime of the ousted president Hosni Mubarak.
Al Adly, who ran Mr Mubarak's security services for more than a decade before the strongman's overthrow in February in the face of 18 days of mass protests, was convicted of money-laundering and illicitly enriching himself while in office.
He had pleaded not guilty to both charges. The charges stemmed from the sale of land Adly owned after he tasked police officials with finding a buyer who would pay the highest possible price.
He faces a second trial on charges of ordering police to shoot protesters, and a third alongside the former prime minister and finance minister over a deal with a German firm to supply Egypt with licence plates at allegedly inflated prices.
Al Adly, once one of Mr Mubarak's closest aides who managed to stay in the precarious post despite a series of militant attacks under his watch, was ushered into a black cage in the courthouse for the brief sentencing.
Riot police and soldiers surrounded the courthouse on the outskirts of Cairo and two commandos were stationed in the small courtroom that was packed with journalists and police.
Judge Al Mohamadi al Qunsuwa, himself flanked by bodyguards, entered and asked whether Adly was present.
The former interior minister, dressed in white prison garb, replied in the affirmative and Mr Qunsuwa read the sentence.
"The court has ruled that Mohammed Habib al Adly will be punished with seven years in prison for profiteering," the judge said. On the second charge of money-laundering, he sentenced Adly to five years.
The former minister was also fined roughly 15 million Egyptian pounds (Dh9.18m).
Mr Mubarak is under investigation on suspicion of involvement in the killings of anti-regime protesters, and may face the death penalty along with Adly if convicted, according to the country's justice minister.
Adly was despised for the abuses committed by his security agents. Human rights groups say that when he was in office, torture was routine and even banal in Egypt.
Police officers were seldom tried for abuses. When convicted, they received relatively light sentences.
Police installations were a particular target for demonstrators during the first days of the protests that toppled Mr Mubarak, forcing police to withdraw from the streets as the military moved in on January 28 to try to restore calm.
Adly's next court appearance on the charges of ordering police to open fire on protesters will be on May 21.
His six co-defendants in the trial were some of interior ministry's most powerful commanders during the Mubarak regime, including the former head of the now dissolved State Security apparatus, Hassan Abdel Rahman.
An official inquiry into deaths during the revolt found that at least 846 civilians and 26 police officers were killed.
Most of the civilians were shot in the head and chest, indicating the use of snipers, according the inquiry's findings.
Much of the former regime's leadership, including Mr Mubarak's two sons Gamal and Alaa, are behind bars, most of them on suspicion or charges of corruption.
MR Mubarak himself is detained in a hospital room in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el Sheikh, reportedly after suffering a heart attack while being questioned.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Results
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (Dirt) 1,000m, Winner: Hazeem Al Raed, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ahmed Al Shemaili (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 85,000 (D) 1,000m, Winner: Ghazwan Al Khalediah, Hugo Lebouc, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,400m, Winner: Dinar Al Khalediah, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi.
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Faith And Fortune, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Only Smoke, Bernardo Pinheiro, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: AF Ramz, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
8pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner: AF Mass, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
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The 24-man squad:
Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Koen Casteels (VfL Wolfsburg).
Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Thomas Meunier (Paris Saint-Germain), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City).
Midfielders: Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Axel Witsel (Tianjin Quanjian), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Nacer Chadli (West Bromwich Albion), Leander Dendoncker (Anderlecht), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Youri Tielemans (Monaco), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham Hotspur).
Forwards: Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea/Dortmund), Yannick Carrasco (Dalian Yifang), Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad), Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United), Dries Mertens (Napoli).
Standby player: Laurent Ciman (Los Angeles FC).
