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Egypt’s ex-head auditor freed, faces trial over ‘false news’
CAIRO – The lawyer of Egypt’s former chief auditor says his family has paid his bail, securing his release ahead of his trial next week on charges of “spreading false news.”
Ali Taha said Friday that his client, Hesham Genena, had spent the night in a police station after refusing to pay bail. He says that Genena’s daughter collapsed with grief, prompting the family to pay on his behalf.
Hesham Genena was charged with spreading false news after a newspaper in December quoted him as saying government corruption cost the country 600 billion Egyptian pounds ($67.6 billion) in 2015. Genena says he was misquoted, and the figure covered four years.
Genena will stand trial on 7 June, three months after he was dismissed as head of the country’s corruption watchdog.
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This story has been corrected to show that the lawyer’s name is Ali Taha, not Taha Ali.
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