An Egyptian court delayed for the third time on Sunday the trial of top auditor Hisham Geneina, the head of the Central Auditing Organisation (CAO), who is accused by the former head of the Judges Club of contempt of the judiciary and slandering a senior judge-turned-minister.
The charges were filed in 2014 by now-Justice Minister Ahmed El-Zend over comments Geneina made during a TV interview about alleged corruption in the judiciary.
The trial was postponed last Tuesday after Geneina submitted a request to the Higher Judiciary Council charging bias on the part of the judge presiding over the case, who Geneina beat in a Judges Club election in 2002.
Geneina's lawyer also argued that since his client holds the rank of minister, he can only be subject to a special inquiry by special prosecutors for any alleged violation of the law, according to a law regulating the operation of the CAO.
Geneina has created controversy in recent months as he repeatedly argued that wide-spread corruption exists within the state machinery, including at various ministries.
A media gag order was imposed recently by the prosecutor-general in multiple ongoing investigations into Geneina's claims and reports that corruption by public officials in various state institutions has cost the state treasury over LE600 billion in the past four years.
