ASA chairman summoned for interrogation on January 31

Chairman of the Accountability State Authority (ASA) Hisham Genaina has been summoned for questioning about libel charges based on a televised interview in which he insulted the judicial authority in Egypt.

Genaina is expected to appear before the judge investigating the case on January 31.

The ASA chairman is accused of allegedly insulting and defaming the judicial authority in Egypt during an interview that was aired in November 2014.

He had been summoned twice before in connection with the case on January 18 and January 26. Genaina did not appear for either session.

Safaa el Din Abaza, the judge investigating the case, had already heard the account of Wael el Ebrashy, the host of a the TV show to which Genaina had spoken.

The judge questioned Ebrashy about giving Genaina the space to freely accuse certain figures and institutions of corruption without providing evidence.

Filed by Ahmed Zend at the time he chaired the Judges' Club, the lawsuit indicated that Genaina had frequently insulted judges and prosecutors in favor of the judicial independence bloc, an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Genaina had, in more than one instance, accused judges of obtaining portions of state lands.

Particularly in his interview with Ebrashy on Dream TV, Genaina had used explicit words and phrases and made hints about judicial corruption, according to the lawsuit.

Genaina had also claimed that judicial rulings were designed as part of a plan to settle accounts with him.

He clearly said he would not appear before judges assigned to probe libel charges against him, calling them "ignorant and unfair".

Genaina had also accused the Public Prosecution of covering up corruption allegations and shelving ASA reports on judges stealing state lands.

During the interview, the ASA chairman had also criticized a decision to refer a number of judges to a disciplinary panel because they practiced politics and supported the Muslim Brotherhood.

He had defended those judges, saying "they only expressed their point of view," while failing to realize that they clearly backed the MB sit-in that threatened state stability, according to the lawsuit.

Source: MENA