Ex-Egyptian judge commits suicide in jail

Cairo: A former senior Egyptian judge committed suicide early Monday shortly after he was jailed on charges of receiving a bribe, security sources said.

The body of Wael Shalabi, the former secretary-general of the judicial State Council, was found hanging inside his jail cell in the eastern Cairo quarter of Nasr City, the sources added on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.

Prosecutors ordered an autopsy examination before his burial, they added.

Shalabi’s suicide came shortly after prosecutors ordered him remanded in police custody for four days pending investigations on charges of receiving a bribe. Prosecuting judges in Egypt is rare.

Shalabi was arrested on Saturday shortly after he resigned his post over suspected involvement in a hefty bribery case in which a purchasing manager in the State Council is the main defendant.

The manager, identified as Jamal Al Laban, was arrested last week by the Administrative Monitoring Authority, a state anti-corruption agency.

Footage on local television showed stacks of cash money in different currencies valued at 150 million Egyptian pounds (Dh30 million), which authorities said had been seized in Al Laban’s house during a police raid.

The seizure, allegedly amassed from bribes in unlawful deals, is Egypt’s biggest corruption case uncovered in recent years, according to local media.

President Abdul Fatah Al Sissi has vowed a relentless fight against corruption since he took office in 2014. In a public address last week, he lauded the Administrative Monitoring Authority’s crackdown on tainted officials.

In recent months, the watchdog has uncovered a series of corruption cases, including a major ring of human organ trade.