A lawyer for the sons of Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak said a court ordered their release on Thursday pending retrial in a corruption case, but judicial sources said they would not be freed until prosecutors review other legal cases against them. Their lawyer, Farid al-Deeb, however, said his defendants are expected to leave prison later Thursday. 

POLITICS

Egypt pardons 584 prisoners for January 25 anniversary
The ministry of interior announced in a press statement that it would release 584 prisoners ‘in celebration’ of Police Day and the fourth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution. The statement added that this decision comes in light of a presidential decree issued in mid-January. The statement did not make clear whether those are to be released are criminal convicts or political prisoners and authorities did not yet announce the names of those pardoned. [Ahram Online, DNE, 1/22/2015]

Also of Interest

  • Egypt’s Sisi calls for global effort to counter militancy | Reuters
  • Sunday an official holiday commemorating Egyptian revolution: Cabinet | Ahram Online
  • Meeting to unify Egypt’s secular political parties postponed | Ahram Online
  • Agriculture Ministry begins studies for 750,000 feddan reclamation project | Mada Masr
  • Cabinet approves amendments to law on chambers of commerce | SIS
  • Sisi approves deal to back Egypt-US Higher Education Initiative | SIS
  • High Elections Commission forms media-monitoring committees | Shorouk (Arabic)

COURTS

Egypt’s Court of Cassation orders retrial in Abu Zaabal prison van case
The Egyptian Court of Cassation accepted an appeal and ordered retrial on the Abu Zaabal case, in which four policemen are accused of killing at least thirty-seven people in a police van. The general prosecution had filed an appeal with the court after an initial appeal in June 2014 overturned a ten-year prison sentence handed down to one policeman and a one-year suspended sentence given to three others on charges of killing thirty-seven prisoners inside a police van. The four policemen stand accused of involuntary murder. [Ahram Online, DNE, Egypt Independent, Reuters, Aswat Masriya, 1/22/2015]

Court orders Mubarak sons’ release
A lawyer for the sons of Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak said a court ordered their release on Thursday pending retrial in a corruption case, but judicial sources said they would not be freed until prosecutors review other legal cases against them. Their lawyer, Farid al-Deeb, however, said his defendants are expected to leave prison later Thursday. The court ordered their release pending the “presidential palaces” case, as they have served the maximum eighteen-month period for pre-trial detention. The public prosecutor has said the law does not allow the prosecution to appeal the court order. [Ahram Online, Reuters, Mada Masr, Aswat Masriya, DNE, Egypt Independent, 1/22/2015]

Egypt president seeks end to Jazeera reporters’ detention
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he’s seeking a resolution to the case of three Al Jazeera television journalists imprisoned for more than a year. “We are very keen on sorting this out and getting it finished as soon as possible,” Sisi said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We are trying very hard to find a way out within the legal framework and respect the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.” He added, “Had it been I in office at the time, I would have just sent those reporters home, not detained any of them.” [Bloomberg, 1/22/2015]

Also of Interest

ECONOMY

IMF revises upward its 2015 GDP growth forecast for Egypt to 3.8 percent
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised upward its 2015 GDP growth forecast for Egypt to 3.8 percent from 3.5 percent  in October, it said in its regional economic outlook update on Thursday. The IMF report also cut its forecast for this year’s fiscal deficit to 11 percent from 11.5 percent previously.  The sharp drop in oil prices has reduced energy import bills for oil importers in the MENA region, the report said. Meanwhile, economists polled by Reuters estimate that Egypt’s economy is set to grow by 3.5 percent this fiscal year. [Egypt Independent, 1/22/2015]

Also of Interest

  • Egypt’s Suez Canal revenue at $445.5 million in December | Egypt Independent
  • Egypt signs gas exploration deal with France’s Total | Reuters
  • Egypt currency falls to historic low, could spur investment | AP
  • Egyptian pound hits new low of 7.39 per dollar | Reuters, FT
  • Davos: Egypt’s Sisi invites world leaders to economic summit | Ahram Online

SOCIETY & MEDIA

Security forces disperse Islamist protests in downtown Cairo
Security forces dispersed a small protest in downtown Cairo on Thursday afternoon. According to eyewitnesses, dozens of protesters were in Talaat Harb square when security forces dispersed the demonstration. State media reported that security forces arrested at least thirteen individuals. The Islamist Ahrar movement issued a statement on its official Facebook page saying that the rally on Thursday was their reply to the head of Abdeen district who stated two days ago in a TV interview that downtown was the most stable and calm area in Egypt thanks to the security forces. Media reports attributing the protest to the April 6 Youth Movement were denied by the group. On Wednesday, security forces dispersed Wednesday evening a march organized by Muslim Brotherhood supporters in downtown Cairo and arrested ten individuals, a security source said. The dissolved Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the Brotherhood, posted a video on Facebook of dozens of protesters in downtown, describing it as a “surprise” protest in downtown’s Tahrir Square . [Egypt Independent, Ahram Online, 1/22/2015]

Also of Interest

SECURITY

Davutoglu: Turkey still won’t recognize Egypt’s coup
A video posted by a Twitter account attributed to Sinai-based militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis on Wednesday shows masked men pledging to continue attacks on Egypt’s security personnel. One man promised new attacks against the Egyptian army in Sinai, to enforce “the law of God.” Another speaker reiterated the militant group’s pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq. He called on Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to guide them. Meanwhile, the interior ministry said on Thursday that a top leader of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis militant group was killed in Egypt’s Nile Delta. [Aswat Masriya, 1/22/2015]

Also of Interest

  •  Salloum border closed until further notice | DNE
  •  Police arrest members of Cairo ‘terrorist’ cell | Ahram Online

INTERNATIONAL

Davutoglu: Turkey still won’t recognize Egypt’s coup
Turkey’s foreign minister has reiterated his country’s dismissal of the ouster of former ally Mohamed Morsy by Egypt’s military in 2013 as a military coup, stressing, at the same time, that it has no problem with the Egyptian people, Anadolu Agency reported. In statements made during a sideline conference at the forty-fifth World Economic Forum in Davos late Wednesday, Ahmet Davutoglu said his country would not recognize the ‘military coup’ in Egypt, adding that Egypt’s stability can only be achieved through ‘legitimacy’ approved by the people. [Egypt Independent, 1/22/2015]

Also of Interest

 

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