Cairo: An Egyptian criminal court yesterday sentenced Hesham Talaat Mustafa, one of Egypt's leading real estate developers, to 15 years in prison for his role in killing a Lebanese pop singer in Dubai. The verdict stunned his defence lawyers, who vowed to appeal against it.
The presiding judge Abdul Salam Juma'a pronounced the verdict, which concluded the two-year trial of Hesham and his co-defendant Mohsin Al Sukkari, an ex-policeman, who was yesterday sentenced to life for his involvement in the slaying of Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim in Dubai in July 2008.
"This ruling surprised the defence team as it violates the procedures at the criminal court. We will appeal against it once the reasons for the verdict are available," said Hesham Abu Shuka, a key lawyer for Hesham.
"The court did not hear the arguments, which were planned by the 10-lawyer defence team," he added.
Last May, a criminal court sentenced both Hesham, an ex-MP in President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party, and Mohsin to death. The verdict was revoked last March by the Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest judicial authority, which ordered a retrial.
Yesterday's ruling was passed almost six months after the beginning of the trial.
Hardly had the chief judge Juma'a announced the ruling when relatives of the two convicts burst out crying and shouting. Some of them clashed with guards, who tried to keep order inside the courtroom on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital.
Hesham's sister, Sahar, was whisked away from the court building in tears. The court, moreover, handed down an extra three years to Mohsin on charges of possessing an unlicensed gun.
Hesham, 50, was accused of giving $2 million (Dh7.34 million) to Mohsin to kill Suzan after she had reportedly jilted him. Both defendants pleaded not guilty during their trial, which started in October 2008 amid frenzy media attention in Egypt and the Arab world.
The latest sentence of Mustafa is likely to spark new accusations of political influence.
Mustafa, who has built luxury suburbs for the rich that now ring impoverished Cairo, was close to the powerful son of Egypt's president and has come to symbolise the close bond between businessmen and politicians in recent years.
The timing of the verdict came as a surprise because there had been no indication the retrial was ending and the defence had yet to give its summation.
The initial allegations shocked Egyptians unused to seeing powerful politicians perceived as untouchable taken to court, and the new lighter sentences are certain to raise charges that Mustafa's influence kept him from the gallows.
"This is the result of the marriage between the regime and the wealthy," said Abdullah Al Sinnawi, the editor of the opposition Al Arabi newspaper. "The regime wants to protect its people."
— With additional inputs from AP
Timeline: The trial so far March 4, 2010
An Egyptian court revoked the death sentence previously handed down to Hesham Talaat Mustafa, an Egyptian business tycoon and Mohsin Al Sukkari, an ex-policeman convicted of killing Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim in Dubai and ordered their retrial.
August 22, 2009
The defence lawyers for Hesham Talaat Mustafa, an Egyptian business tycoon and Mohsin Al Sukkari, an ex-policeman, sentenced to death last May for ordering the slaying of Suzan Tamim, a Lebanese singer, appealed against the verdict and requested his re-trial.
June 25, 2009
Egyptian Criminal Court announced that the Grand Mufti (Egypt's top Muslim authority) has ratified the death sentences it passed against Hesham Talaat Mustafa and Mohsin Al Sukkari, an ex-policeman, for killing Suzan Tamim, a Lebanese singer
May 20, 2009
A Cairo criminal court sentenced Hesham Talaat Mustafa and ex-cop Mohsin Al Sukkari to death by hanging for the July 2008 murder of Lebanese pop singer Suzan Tamim.
February 14, 2009
A criminal court in Cairo, Egypt, in a murder trial of Suzan Tamim involving an Egyptian business tycoon, cross-examined a senior policeman from Dubai where the murder was committed.
September 02, 2008
Egyptian police arrested billionaire and business tycoon Hesham Talaat Mustafa for his involvement in this murder case. Ex-cop Mohsin Al Sukkari admitted to investigators that Mustafa hired him to kill Suzan for $2 million
August 10, 2008
Dubai police announced the arrest of an Arab man behind the gruesome killing of Lebanese singing sensation Suzan Tamim.
August 4, 2008
Lebanese singer, Suzan Tamim was buried in Beirut. The body of the slain singer was repatriated from Dubai the same morning.
July 28, 2008
Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim found murdered at Jumeirah Beach Residence Rimal Tower 1 in Dubai.
