Egypt court upholds jail term for Morsi’s PM

Qandil was sentenced in April for failing to implement a court ruling to renationalise a textile company.

In September, prosecutors ordered Qandil's assets to be frozen and prevented him from leaving Egypt [Reuters]

A Cairo appeals court has upheld a one-year sentence handed to former Egyptian prime minister Hisham Qandil, 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.

Qandil 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, Qandil has kept a low profile since Morsi’s overthrow by the army on July 3.

Earlier this month, prosecutors ordered the freezing of Qandil’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 more than 2,000 jailed.

Canadians’ detention extended

On Sunday, the families of two Canadian citizens staging a hunger strike in an Egyptian prison said that authorities had extended the prisoners’ detention by 45 days.

Tarek Loubani and John Greyson have been held without charges in Egypt since August 16, despite Canadian diplomatic pressure. The two said in a statement on Saturday that they had been beaten and subjected to degrading treatment since being detained at the height of violent protests in Cairo last month.

Lynne Yelich, a Canadian minister responsible for consular affairs, said on Sunday that the government is “disappointed” that the two will stay in custody longer.

Loubani, a physician, and Greyson, a filmmaker, were trying to make their way to Gaza when they went to watch the
protests by supporters of ousted President Morsi a few blocks away from their hotel.

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

Source: News Agencies