Mubarak-era parliament speaker handed five-year sentence over corruption charges

A Cairo court has sentenced former parliament speaker Safwat al-Sherif to five years in prison on charges of illicit profiteering and abuse of power.

The court also sentenced Sherif's two sons to five and ten years in prison in absentia respectively, and ordered all the defendants to pay fines of 209 million Egyptian Pounds ($23.5 million).

The ruling is subject to appeal.

The Illicit Gains Authority had referred Sherif and his sons to trial for raking in over 300 million Egyptian Pounds ($33.7 million) in illicit personal profit from public posts.

Sherif held several public posts during the era of former President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011.

He was the head of the State Information Service, an official news service and public relations agency; the head of Egyptian Radio and Television Union; minister of information and speaker of the parliament’s upper house, the Shura Council.

Sherif held several public posts during the era of former President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011

Mubarak is being retried on charges of complicity in killing protesters during the 2011 uprising, a charge Sherif was acquitted of in 2012.

Last month, the Illicit Gains Authority announced it was looking into 35 corruption cases involving a number of Mubarak-era businessmen with the aim of establishing "reconciliation" deals that involve negotiating financial and other settlements.

However, most Mubarak-era officials have been acquitted of corruption and other charges.

Most Mubarak-era officials have been acquitted of corruption and other charges

Earlier this month, Egypt's top appeals court acquitted Mubarak's last prime minister of corruption charges after overturning his sentence for illegal profiteering.

Those released include Mubarak's sons, who were convicted with their father of stealing public funds. The sons were freed in October for time served.

Courts also acquitted senior interior ministry officials over the killing of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising.

Egypt ranked 88 out of 168 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index 2015, with a score of 36 on a scale where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean.