Maghreb Edition

Egyptian opponent abroad, Mohamed Ali, sentenced by Sisi court to jail in absentiaF

Posted On 10 December 2019

Number of times this article was read : 444

Cairo, Dec 10, 2019 – A self-exiled Egyptian businessman and dissident who has accused President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of corruption has been sentenced in absentia to five years in jail for tax evasion, a judicial source said Tuesday. Mohamed Ali, a construction contractor and fledgling actor, has posted viral videos accusing the country’s military elite of wasting taxpayers’ money on vanity projects. After Ali urged Egyptians to protest on September 20, hundreds took to the streets in Cairo and elsewhere, drawing a heavy-handed response from security forces, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators.  The judicial source said Ali had been sentenced recently by the Cairo Criminal Court, without specifying when the ruling was handed down.

The court had released on Monday “the reasoning for its earlier verdict in the tax evasion case against Ali where he was sentenced to five years in absentia and fined 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,000),” the source said. The court had also ordered Ali to repay at least 48 million Egyptian pounds ($3 million) to the country’s tax authority. Protests have been restricted in Egypt under a 2013 law passed following the military’s ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

In an October interview with AFP in Spain, Ali said he was working with the opposition to topple Sisi. “The opposition in and out of Egypt are all with me because we all have the same goal of getting rid of Sisi,” Ali said.  He also alleges he is owed millions of Egyptian pounds for work he completed but was never paid for. Although he did not produce concrete evidence, he pointed to specific palaces and villas including in Cairo and Alexandria that he said Sisi had commissioned him to build.

Sisi has denied the allegations and insisted the palaces were built for the country and not for himself. In the wake of the September protests, Egyptian authorities arrested some 4,000 people, including well-known academics,  activists and lawyers, rights groups say. Activists say the crackdown is one of the worst since Sisi took power in
2014.

By AFP

Subscribe to Urgent Notifications and Newsletter

Most Recent Stories from the Region

Gulf War Escalates as Energy Markets Reel and Regional Fronts Multiply✓

The war involving Iran, Israel, and the United States is expanding across the Middle East, with growing consequences for global energy markets and regional security. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure have pushed oil prices higher and raised concerns about supply stability. As missile exchanges intensify and fighting spreads to Lebanon, world leaders are scrambling to assess the economic fallout and prevent further escalation.

West Africa: Jihadist Attacks Intensify in Northern Benin Amid Cross-Border Insurgency Pressure✓

Jihadist attacks in northern Benin have intensified in recent weeks, with militants linked to JNIM claiming a deadly assault on a military position near the Niger border and carrying out additional raids on security posts along the country’s volatile frontiers with Burkina Faso and Nigeria. The violence underscores how northern Benin has become part of a wider cross-border insurgency spilling south from the central Sahel, even as authorities bolster Operation Mirador and try to prevent armed groups from entrenching themselves on Beninese soil.

Desert Locusts Stir Fresh Worries in North-West Africa✓

Small desert locust swarms recently detected along the western Sahara corridor have prompted stepped-up monitoring across parts of North and West Africa, where shifting rainfall can quickly turn quiet desert areas into launchpads for wider infestations.

Written by The North Africa Journal

The North Africa Journal is a leading English-language publication focused on North Africa. The Journal covers primarily the Maghreb region and expands its general coverage to the Sahel, Egypt, and beyond, when events in those regions affect the broader North Africa geography. The Journal does not have any affiliation with any institution and has been independent since its founding in 1996. Our position is to always bring our best analysis of events affecting the region, and remain as neutral as humanly possible. Our coverage is not limited to one single topic, but ranges from economic and political affairs, to security, defense, social and environmental issues. We rely on our full staff analysts and editors to bring you best-in-class analysis. We also work with sister company MEA Risk LLC, to leverage the presence on the ground of a solid network of contributors and experts. Information on MEA Risk can be found at www.MEA-Risk.com.