Senior judicial official denies Mada Masr report on resignation of former public prosecutor, son

Hours after Mada Masr reported that the head of the second terrorism circuit court and former Public Prosecutor Hamada al-Sawy, as well as his son, Ahmed, had resigned from judicial life, the secretary general of the Supreme Judicial Council denied the resignation in comments to the press.

According to reports, the Supreme Judicial Council also urged the media to “ensure accuracy and refrain from publishing misleading news,” stressing that legal action was underway against “those spreading false rumors,” whether websites or individuals.

Three senior judicial sources who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity said that Sawy and his son had resigned on Wednesday from judicial work.

The sources said that Sawy and his son also presented themselves before the Administrative Control Authority for a hearing in an ongoing investigation the agency is conducting into corruption during their tenure at the Public Prosecution — Sawy as attorney general, and his son as a member of the prosecution’s technical office.

The sources did not specify whether Sawy and his son attended hearings in connection to charges for which they were under investigation, or in connection to crimes committed during their employment at the Public Prosecution in which they were not implicated. 

Mada Masr reached out to the spokesperson for the Supreme Judicial Council, Khaled Farouk, for confirmation or comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

One source, a deputy president of the Court of Cassation, told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that “the judiciary has the lowest rate of corruption, and anyone who makes a mistake is held accountable, regardless of their position or rank.” The public’s confidence in judges shouldn’t be diminished by the news, the source said, adding, “it shows that anyone who commits an error will not get away with it, regardless of their position.”

The other two sources, one of whom is also a deputy to the Court of Cassation’s president and the other a former senior judge, told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that the resignations of Sawy and his son followed investigations undertaken in recent days by the Administrative Control Authority into several individuals who had worked alongside the former attorney general in the Public Prosecution office. Those being investigated were placed on indefinite leave and instructed not to leave the country until investigations are complete. 

News of Sawy and his son’s resignations, which were circulated in closed messaging groups for members of the judiciary, came on the heels of the sudden resignation of another senior judge embroiled in allegations of legal wrongdoing, the second deputy to the Court of Cassation’s president said. 

The incident involved another deputy Court of Cassation president — whose nameMada Masr has chosen to withhold — who was stopped by authorities at Cairo International Airport while en route to Kuwait where he works on secondment as a judge. The judge was found in possession of LE1.2 million (around $25,000) — substantially more than the LE5,000 cap on the legal transfer of funds outside the country — concealed inside shawarma sandwiches within his luggage. Security detained and questioned the judge, then confiscated the money and released him on LE200,000 bail, the two sources said. The judge then resigned and left for Kuwait.

Yet one of the three sources said that the sandwich incident bore no relation to the resignation of Sawy and his son.

Sawy began his four-year term in office as attorney general after being appointed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in September 2019. At the time of his appointment, Sawy was 63 years old, just eight years shy of the age of retirement. When his stint as public prosecutor ended in September 2023, Sawy returned to the Cairo Court of Appeals. Two months later, the appeals court’s president, Mohamed Amer Gado, appointed Sawy to head the second terrorism circuit at the Supreme State Security Court. 

Sawy’s new role raised eyebrows. He was expected to join the constitutional court, with the Supreme Constitutional Court’s general assembly endorsing his membership two weeks before the end of Sawy’s tenure at the Public Prosecution and sending their endorsement to the president for ratification. The Supreme Constitutional Court’s judges continued to affirm Sawy’s appointment until his appointment to the terrorism circuit at the appeals court in November. 

At the time, the constitutional court’s spokesperson, Mahmoud Ghoneim, told Mada Masr that Sawy’s presidency of the second terrorism circuit at the Supreme State Security Court would be temporary, until Sisi issue a decree appointing Sawy to the Supreme Constitutional Court. Ghoneim said at the time that the general assembly had unanimously approved Sawy’s appointment as a member and deputy president of the court on September 1, 2023. 

But on January 11, 2024, a presidential decree was issued stipulating that, starting from the day following the end of his term as public prosecutor, Sawy should resume service at the Cairo Court of Appeals in his regular capacity based on his seniority in that court. The Supreme Constitutional Court’s general assembly’s decision to appoint him was nullified without explanation. 

One of the deputy presidents of the Court of Cassation said that the apparent reversal on Sawy’s appointment to the Supreme Constitutional Court came without explanation. But the situation took a different turn in recent months, when a case involving a member of the Public Prosecution’s technical office was reopened. According to the source, the individual was accused of embezzling LE9 million from the funds allocated to the Public Prosecution’s procurement contracts, and of accepting bribes from a construction contractor who filed a complaint accusing him of profiteering.

In early coverage of the corruption case, Al-Masry Al-Youm had reported that in July 2023, a chief prosecutor — referred to by the initials A. S. — had died by suicide. The report was later removed from the privately owned news outlet’s website. 

Later on, media outlets circulated a copy of the Cairo Court of Appeals decision to take custody of the body of Ayman Samir, chief prosecutor at the information center affiliated with the Public Prosecution’s technical office. 

Al-Masry Al-Youm cited undisclosed judicial sources to report that Samir had jumped from the ninth floor of the Public Prosecution building while under investigation for charges of profiteering, embezzlement of public funds, and receiving bribes from a contractor. He had been apprehended at Cairo International Airport while attempting to leave the country.

During his tenure as public prosecutor, Sawy was known for his focus on the stringent monitoring of social media activity. He initiated the establishment of a department for communication, guidance, and social media within his office, dedicated to monitoring social media platforms and interacting with users. He ultimately oversaw the prosecution of dozens of cases involving individuals suspected of violating the law in relation to their activity online. These included investigations into posts published touching on political, religious and ethical matters, as well as cases deemed morally contentious. In a series of high profile cases beginning in 2020 and known for involving “Tik Tok girls,” as the media dubbed them, Sawy prosecuted dozens of women and underage girls for creating, managing, and using social media accounts to publish content violating “Egyptian family values.” 

Sawy also set a “code of conduct” for citizens using social media. During his tenure, the Public Prosecution issued statements urging parents to promote morality and virtue, often publishing messages cautioning against social media as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and referring to it as “the fourth border of the country, after land, air, and sea borders.”

On September 16, Sawy concluded his tenure as public prosecutor with the inauguration of the Digital Archive Department, a department which managed property under judicial custody, the Information Systems and Digital Transformation Department, and the new Public Prosecution’s data center. Sawy also announced the completion of the second phase of the prosecution’s digital transformation strategy, in the presence of officials including the justice minister, the Administrative Control Authority’s deputy president, and others. 

During the ceremony, Sawy addressed his colleagues at the Public Prosecution, urging them to “heed Allah in your work and your mission. Always be a role model for your colleagues. Fulfill your duties with dedication and loyalty,” advising them to uphold fairness as judges to ensure the prevalence of justice.