Africa

Africa

Egypt’s top prosecutor stays after agreement with president

13 October 2012 18:53 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi agreed Saturday to have the country’s prosecutor general keep his job, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

In a statement delivered Saturday, Egyptian presidency spokesman Yasser Ali said the Supreme Judicial Council petitioned Morsi during a meeting earlier in the day for keeping Prosecutor General Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud in office.

Ali added that Mahmoud himself expressed his desire to keep his job.

The spokesman said Morsi heeded the petition and the prosecutor general’s wish and decided to agree that Mahmoud stays as the country’s top prosecutor.

A political and legal crisis erupted Thursday after Morsi issued a decree to remove Mahmoud from the post of prosecutor general and appoint him as the ambassador to Vatican, which was followed by an angry reaction by the latter, who considered it as a violation of the independence of the judiciary.

Egyptian laws grant the prosecutor general immunity against removal from office and stipulate that he leaves office out of his own accord or when he reaches retirement age.