Re-trial of Ezz in steel license case adjourned to June 2

The Cairo Criminal Court adjourned to June 2 the retrial of businessman Ahmed Ezz, former chairman of the Industrial Development Authority Amr Assal and former trade and industry minister Rashid Mohamed Rashid in connection with the case known in the media as the 'steel license.' The three are tried over charges of profiteering and squandering public funds worth EGP 665 million. Rashid and Assal are accused of granting, in violation of the law, two free of charge licenses to Ezz for manufacturing iron. Also, they gave Ezz the okay to build two factories in the Suez Free Trade Zone in a flagrant breach of the law, which stipulates that no investor is granted more than one license, inflicting losses on the public exchequer hitting EGP 660 million. In September, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Ezz and Assal to ten years in jail and Rashid in absentia for 15 years in connection with this case. But the Cassation Court ordered the retrial of them before another judicial district of the Cairo Criminal Court after they appealed the rulings.