Court reduces billionaire's sentence in singer's death скачать в хорошем качестве

Court reduces billionaire's sentence in singer's death

(28 Sep 2010) SHOTLIST Cairo, Egypt 1. Exterior of Egypt south criminal court 2. Wide of courtroom 3. Mid of Mohsen el-Sukkary and Hisham Talaat Moustafa behind bars 4. Close of Mohsen el-Sukkary behind bars 5. Close of Hisham Talaat Moustafa behind bars 6. Prosecutors 7. Cutaway of cameras 8. Farid al Deeb, lawyer for Hisham Talaat Moustafa, speaking 9. Jury enters room 10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdel Salam Gomaa, south criminal court judge: ++QUALITY AS INCOMING++ "The court issued its sentence - a life sentence for Mohsen el-Sukkary and 15 years to serve in prison for Hisham Talaat Moustafa." 11. Zoom out as jury leaves courtroom 12. Various of crowd in courtroom as Moustafa's sister leaves court Beirut, Lebanon 13. Tilt down from poster of murdered Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamim to door 14. Close of Tamim poster 15. Street outside house 16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Marwan Taki, neighbour of Tamim family: "I see the verdict as not fair. It's normal that if two people killed one person, they should be executed at least." 17. Cars on street 18. Two men sitting in front of their shop 19. Exterior of building where Tamim family lives 20. Exterior of Tamim family's balcony STORYLINE An Egyptian court handed a billionaire charged with killing his pop star lover a lighter sentence of just 15 years after an earlier trial sentenced him to death, the state news agency said on Tuesday. The new sentence for Hisham Talaat Moustafa, a prominent member of Egypt's ruling party, in the brutal murder of a Lebanese singer is likely to spark new accusations of political influence. Moustafa, the builder behind Cairo's luxury suburbs, was close to the powerful son of Egypt's president and has come to symbolise the close bond between businessmen and politicians in recent years. The judge convicted Moustafa for conspiracy to murder of 30-year-old Suzanne Tamim and gave him 15 years in prison. The timing of the verdict came as a surprise because there had been no indication the retrial was ending and the defence had yet to give its summation. The real estate tycoon was sentenced to death in May 2009 after being convicted of paying a retired Egyptian police officer two (m) million US dollars to kill Tamim while she was in Dubai in July 2008. The court in March overturned the conviction on procedural grounds and ordered a retrial. The sentence for the man actually convicted of killing Tamim, Mohsen el-Sukkary, was also reduced to just life in prison, which is 25 years under the Egyptian penal code. Prison years, under the Egyptian system are nine months long, meaning that Moustafa could be released in just a few years, counting time served and good behaviour. The sentences can still be appealed by the defendants, the prosecutor or Tamim's family. In May, it was widely reported in the Arab media that Moustafa had agreed to pay hundreds of (m) millions of dollars in compensation to her family. The initial allegations shocked Egyptians unused to seeing powerful politicians perceived as untouchable taken to court, and the new lighter sentences are certain to raise charges that Moustafa's influence kept him from the gallows. The company he once headed, Talaat Moustafa Group, is Egypt's largest publicly traded property developer. TMG has been the focus of news reports for the past few weeks after a court annulled its contract for the purchase of a 13-square-mile (33-square-kilometre) plot of desert land on which it is building another luxury gated community outside the capital. During interrogations, Moustafa said he broke up with Tamim after his mother opposed the couple's marriage plan. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...