On Saturday, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced the brother of former Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali and others to 30 years in prison and a fine of 5 million pounds in two cases of smuggling antiquities to Europe.
The court sentenced Raouf Boutros-Ghali in the first case to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of 5 million pounds. According to the case papers, the accused confessed in the investigations that he possessed the artifacts seized from his residence, which were proven to be antique and belong to the ancient Egyptian civilization.
In the second case, the court issued a decision "aggravating imprisonment of 15 years, a fine of one million pounds, and the seizure of seizures" against Ghali, and others are the honorary consul of the former Italian state, Ladislav Otker Skakl (runaway), a representative of a shipping company called Medhat Michel, and a worker named Ahmed Hassan Najdi .
The Public Prosecution had referred Yusuf Ghali's brother and others to the criminal court, with the speedy seizure and appearance of the former Honorary Consul of the State of Italy in the fleeing Luxor, and its inclusion in the International Red Bulletin, and lists of anticipation of arrival.
The Public Prosecution investigations stated that the process of tracking the Egyptian antiquities smuggling network to Europe, specifically Italy, during which the necessary investigations were conducted, and the period was sufficient to know all members of the criminal network, how to commit the incident and the role of each accused.
According to Al-Watan newspaper, the report of the Committee of Experts on Antiquities, formed by a decision of the Public Prosecution to examine the artifacts, which was found in the house of Raouf Boutros-Ghali, in the case of smuggling the antiquities accused of it, revealed that the pieces that were found in the accused’s house in Zamalek are Egyptian artifacts of value It belongs to successive Egyptian civilizations, and is subject to the Egyptian Antiquities Protection Law, some of which are the result of stealth excavation works in archaeological areas, and some are illegally obtained from the palaces of the Alevi family.
Investigations revealed that the recovered coins consisted of 21,660 coins in addition to 195 artifacts, including 151 miniature figurines of faience, 11 clay pots, 5 mummy masks, some of which are gold-plated, wooden sarcophagus, two small compounds of wood, 2 canopic heads, and 3 colored ceramic tiles belonging to the Islamic era. The pieces are now for restoration work, and these pieces are not from the lost museum stores or museums.
It turned out that the defendants shipped the traces brought to them by the brother of the former minister, in conjunction with other unknown defendants who are being disclosed, and were shipped in the name of the foreign consul, and accordingly the shipment was not subject to inspection because of the diplomatic rights of the consul.