Former Agriculture Minister Youssef Wali's appeal against the freezing of his assets would be heard by the Cairo Criminal Court on 31 January, the court ruled on Monday.
Wali is joined in his appeal by Abdel Hamid Hilal Yassin, former head of the General Authority for Agricultural Development; and Ali Mohamed Ibrahim al-Shafei, former chairman of the Cooperative for the Development of Animal Wealth.
The defendants are charged with squandering public funds by allowing businessperson Suleiman Amer to build residential compounds and tourism projects on arable land allocated to him by the ministry. A contract had stipulated that the land be cultivated, not developed.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
