Court upholds 10-year prison sentence for former Agriculture Minister

Egypt’s Court of Cassation upheld a 10-year prison sentence against former Agriculture Minister Salah Helal and his office manager for corruption, rejecting Helal’s appeal against the April 2016 ruling, Al Masry Al Youm reports. Helal was slapped with a EGP 1 mn fine, while his deputy, Mohie Eddin Qadh, was fined EGP 500k. The former minister had resigned in September 2015, and was promptly arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes in return for land licenses.