Giza Criminal Court headed by Judge Hosam Dabous adjourned today the case of Zohair Garana, the former minister of tourism, and the escaped Emirate businessman Hesham Al-hazek till June 19 to return verdict. In this case both of the defendants are convicted with seizing 5 million square meters of Ain Sukhna land.
The court heard on Wednesday to the prosecution which affirmed that the accused Garana had used his position to seize the state’s land. It also convicted the Emirate businessman with using his relations with the former defendant to seize the state’s fund. He assigned land in Ain Sukhana zone with low price, $1 per square meter; as he banned the board of Tourism Development Authority to sell these plots.
The prosecution depended on the testimony of Mr Serag Al Deen, the head of investment administration in the authority, who witnessed that in November 20th 2010, Garana allocated the land without consulting the authority’s board. This is after the board decided to sell by trade-off method in June 14th, 2007.
The prosecution also depended on the experts committee’s technical report which estimated the land’s price with $10. In addition to that, it depended on the first defendant’s admission that he individually allocated the land as he said “yes I was supporting this trend”. The prosecution demanded heavy sentences on the first defendant and reconciling with the second defendant.
The claimant demanded heavy sentences on the two defendants and called on the court to be against the reconciliation law; referring that the law was issued due to the military council’s recommendations.
The court heard to the first defendant’s defense, which denied the accusations and annulled the remand. He also annulled the prosecution’s decision which to form a committee of the illicit gains administration in order to estimate the land’s price; as this will violate the law.
