A court in Egypt on Sunday sentenced minister for antiquities Zahi Hawass to a year in jail and removal from his post after he refused to implement a court decision, a judicial source told AFP.
Hawass, who was named minister of antiquities last month and was head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and later minister of state under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, immediately said he would appeal.
The sentence will be suspended until the appeal ruling.
Sunday's sentence against Hawass -- known internationally as a leading Egyptologist -- came after a suit was filed against him in a land dispute while he was still the country's antiquities supremo.
In the ruling, Hawass was ordered to return the land to the plaintiff, but he allegedly refused to do so.
Hawass was sentenced to a year in prison, a fine of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (more than $1,600) in damages plus interest, and to be removed from his post.
He confirmed to reporters that he intended to appeal, and added that the court ruling had not targeted him "personally."
Source: AFP [April 18, 2011]
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| A court in Egypt on Sunday sentenced minister for antiquities Zahi Hawass, pictured in 2010, to a year in jail and removal from his post after he refused to implement a court decision, a judicial source told AFP [Credit: AFP/Khaled Desouki] |
The sentence will be suspended until the appeal ruling.
Sunday's sentence against Hawass -- known internationally as a leading Egyptologist -- came after a suit was filed against him in a land dispute while he was still the country's antiquities supremo.
In the ruling, Hawass was ordered to return the land to the plaintiff, but he allegedly refused to do so.
Hawass was sentenced to a year in prison, a fine of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (more than $1,600) in damages plus interest, and to be removed from his post.
He confirmed to reporters that he intended to appeal, and added that the court ruling had not targeted him "personally."
Source: AFP [April 18, 2011]