Former Egyptian information minister sentenced to 7 years in jail

Cairo Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced former Egyptian Information Minister Anas el-Fiqqi to seven years in jail, state TV reported. Fiqqi was charged with wasting the public funds in favor of several private channels by granting them TV signal to broadcast the Egyptian Premier League games for free, which caused a loss to the Egyptian Radio and Television Union estimated at 14 billion Egyptian pounds (about 2. 35 billion U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, former President of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union Osma el-Sheikh was sentenced to five years in jail on charges of wasting 1.888 million U.S. dollars of public funds. The court witnessed clashes between the security forces and the two officials' family members, who threw bottles at the judge.