Hesham Barakat appointed prosecutor general

Hesham Barakat was sworn in as the new prosecutor general this afternoon, the third person to hold the position in 10 days.

Newspaper Al-Shorouk quoted presidential media advisor Ahmed al-Muslemany as saying that the Supreme Judicial Council nominated three men to the post. Barakat was selected pursuant to a decision by interim President Adly Mansour.

Barakat graduated in 1973 from Cairo University’s Faculty of Law. He worked as a district prosecutor after his graduation before becoming a judge. He was later appointed the head of the Appeals Court.

The post of prosecutor general was a source of much contention during the rule of deposed President Mohamed Morsi, who in October 2012 removed then Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, announcing his appointment as Ambassador to the Vatican.

Appointed during the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak, Mahmoud was frequently described by the Muslim Brotherhood and January 25 revolutionaries as a stalwart of the Mubarak regime.

Mahmoud challenged Morsi’s move as unconstitutional. Morsi responded by removing him via his controversial 22 November 2012 Constitutional Declaration and replacing him with Talaat Abdallah.

Last week, the Cassation Court reinstated Mahmoud, who spent only a week in the post before resigning on Friday. Before submitting his resignation, Mahmoud transferred several prosecutors in the supreme state security and public funds departments. Appointed by Abdallah, there were claims that these prosecutors were cronies of the Muslim Brotherhood.