Cairo - An Egyptian court acquitted former information minister Anas al-Fiqi on corruption charges, state news agency MENA reported on Wednesday, the latest ruling to clear a prominent figure from the era of ousted president Hosni Mubarak.
While courts have absolved several Mubarak-era officials, they have been handing down lengthy sentences to liberal and Islamist activists in cases ranging from protesting to committing acts of violence.
Fiqi, who from 2004 until the 2011 uprising that ended Mubarak's 30-year rule headed the state's sprawling media apparatus, was accused of using his position and influence to illegally make 33.4 million Egyptian pounds ($4.27 million).
He was sentenced to one year in jail and ordered to pay a 1.8 million pound fine in February 2014 but the sentence was overturned by the Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest, which ordered a retrial in January 2015.
Reuters