Where has Egypt’s ex-interior minister Habib el-Adly escaped to?

There have been multiple reports over the past few days regarding the escape of Habib al-Adly, former interior minister during Hosni Mubarak's rule, from Egypt and whether he will serve his seven-year jail sentence after being found guilty over corruption charges.

Egyptian media outlets reported that the Central Cairo Prosecution, led by the First Attorney General Samir Hassan, received an official letter from the Interior Ministry stating that Adly was not in his home in 6th of October city.

Given his absence, the sentence issued from the Cairo Criminal Court of seven years in the case of the embezzling interior ministry funds, could not be executed.

The letter said that a security force went to Adly’s house to arrest him but did not find him there. He is being sought, sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, and that official letters confirm that Adly is not in his residence in Giza. Adly employed a special security team, not one that belongs to the interior ministry, pointing out that after the seven-year prison sentence, the period of house arrest has ended.

Mohamed Al Gendy, Adly’s lawyer, denied all reports on Monday and said that his client was in poor health and could not move. Once he recieved the sentence, he health situation deteriorated and he suffered a stroke. His relatives immediately transferred him to one of his houses in the 6th October area to hide from authorities until he recovers, stressing that Adly will hand himself to the court, which will consider his appeal to the ruling on Tuesday and will go to the court in an ambulance accompanied by a medical team.

Adly’s lawyer revealed other surprises and said that the former Egyptian politician had no intentions of escaping justice even if he wanted to. He could have done it immediately after the January 2011 uprisings, pointing out that some Arab countries during that time who offered him citizenship, but he refused and decided to stay in Egypt.

Cairo's Criminal Court will consider the appeal filed by Adly on Tuesday to postpone carrying out the sentence which obliged him along with others to return the amount of 195,936,000 Egyptian pounds.