The Cairo Criminal Court released Zakaria Azmy, former chief of presidential staff for deposed President Hosni Mubarak, from custody on Thursday.
Azmy had appealed a seven-year prison sentence issued after he was found guilty of receiving gifts worth LE1.85 million from state-run newspapers Al-Ahram and Al-Akhbar.
His brother Omar praised the judiciary and said Azmy would give up politics. “This is the domain of Egypt’s youth now,” he said.
The Union of Revolutionary Youth condemned the Muslim Brotherhood, President Mohamed Morsy and Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah for releasing Azmy, criticizing the move ast a deal between the Brotherhood and former regime figures.
In a statement issued Thursday, the union said the safe exit for the Armed Forces, which culminated in honoring Field Marshal Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Annan, was not limited to the military council, but also applied to figures of the deposed regime. Zakaria Azmy, Mubarak’s wife Suzan Thabet, Safwat al-Sherif, Farouk Hosni, Zahi Hawass, Hussein Salem and Fathi Sorour all reconciled with the government in exchange for payments.
This is an insult to the martyrs of the revolution, the statement asserted.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
