Cairo court upholds sentences against Mobinil employees

A Cairo court upheld a previous ruling against four officials at the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (Mobinil), slapping them prison sentences ranging from three to five years. The four were convicted of enabling the transfer of internet-based telephone communications to abroad. Mobinil Board Chairman and Managing Director Iskandar Nabil Shalabi was sentenced to three years in prison. The court handed down five-year prison terms to each of Mobinil's director of network design and quality Mahmoud Hadri, director of quality supervision Tarek Shaheen and quality supervision engineer Fadi Farid. Shalabi and Hadri were also fined EGP 200,000 each and their co-defendants EGP 50,000 each. Together they were ordered to pay a fine of over EGP 210,000 to Telecom Egypt in addition to an initial compensation of EGP 10,000. The four were tried on accusations connected with setting up a highly-advanced communications tower in Ojah, near the Egyptian-Israeli border, enabling the transfer of internet-based telephone communications (VOIP) without acquiring the necessary permits from Telecom t.