The trial of the Bibliotecha Alexandrina director accused of squandering public funds and abusing his power has been postponed to 12 November.
Defendant Ismail Serageldin did not attend court today when the decision was made. His defense team requested that he be acquitted of all charges.
Library staff accused Serageldin of unfairly appointing advisors, who earned thousands of pounds in salaries, which they claimed was a squandering of public funds.
Serageldin, the library’s financial director and two others were referred to court in March.
Mostafa Bakry, a former independent member of Parliament, filed a report with the public prosecutor in March 2011 claiming donations to the library were illegally transferred to a bank account controlled by former first lady Suzanne Mubarak. Serageldin denied any knowledge of this bank account, which was found to contain US$147 million.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
