Egypt gives Mubarak-era minister 3 years in jail for corruption

Egypt's top appeals court upheld on Tuesday a three-year prison sentence over corruption charges for a Mubarak-era information minister, a judicial source said. 

Safwat al-Sherif, 86, was a politician and a leading member of the ruling National Democratic Party during the presidency of Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in a 2011 uprising. The party was dissolved after Mubarak's ouster.  

In September 2018, Sherif was sentenced to three years in jail and fined nearly 99.5 million Egyptian pounds (over $6.3 million) on illicit gains charges. He appealed the ruling. 

"The Court of Cassation rejected Sherif's appeal and thus confirmed the 2018 sentence," the source said.

"It is now final and cannot be appealed," the source added. 

In 2013, Sherif was acquitted of charges that he ordered horse and camel riders to attack protesters during the 2011 uprising.

The former minister had also served as the speaker of the upper legislative chamber, formally known as the Shura Council. 

Many officials and leading businessmen under Mubarak faced corruption charges following his ouster. 

The deposed president, who ruled Egypt for three decades, died in February this year.