Mubarak duirng a court hearing in Cairo in May 2014
Keystone
The office of the Swiss Attorney General has been ordered to resume a legal inquiry into the family of the former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, suspected of belonging to a criminal organisation.
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swissinfo.ch with agencies
As a result, some CHF590 million ($613 million) in assets of the Mubarak family, frozen in Swiss bank accounts since 2011, will remain blocked.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the state prosecutor had not respected the formal procedure when it decided to close the case in June 2015 following four years of investigations.
It said the Swiss authorities failed to hear the arguments of the Egyptian government representatives.
Judges ordered the attorney general’s office to review access to the legal documents.
As part of a long-standing legal controversy, Switzerland is still investigating claims of money laundering against the Mubarak clan.
In January, the Federal Proscecutor, Michael Lauber, held talks in Cairo with Egyptian justice authorities.
Mubarak was forced to stand down in February 2011 following civilian protests and months of public unrest.
Mubarak associate
In a related development, the Egyptian government has asked Switzerland, Spain and Hong Kong to unblock assets of a close associate of Mubarak.
Industry tycoon Hussein Salem apparently handed over most of his and his family’s wealth in exchange for dropping corruption cases against him.
The Egyptian prosecutor on Tuesday announced that funds totaling $600 million of Salem’s assets had been retrieved.
Salem was arrested in Spain five years ago and later released on bail. He is one the founders of a company that exported Egyptian natural gas to Israel. Corruption charges against him allege that the company sold gas below market prices.
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Swiss drop part of investigation into Mubarak and clan
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The money that was being kept in Swiss accounts was blocked in February 2011 after Mubarak stood down from his position following 18 days of civilian protests and months of wider unrest in Egypt. The Federal Prosecutor has been investigating Mubarak and those close to him on suspicion of supporting or being part of a…
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The draft law is designed to be applied in cases where leading political figures enrich themselves through corruption or other criminal means and deposit these illicitly acquired assets in Switzerland’s financial centre. It will now be debated by parliament. Following the extension in January 2014 of the freeze on the assets of members of the…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.