Around nine news websites and newspapers published a statement attributed to former MP Alaa Abed, announcing that the lawyer, who practises before the Court of Cassation and Supreme Constitutional Court, had taken on the legal defence of Culture Minister Gihan Zaki.
The statement referred to material previously published by Zawia3, which it described as “broadcasting from outside the country.” It characterised that material as containing insults constituting offences of insult, libel and defamation, and announced immediate legal action against anyone republishing it in whole or in part through any medium. It cited Articles 25, 26 and 27 of Law No. 175 of 2018 on combating information technology crimes, alongside Articles 302, 303 and 308 of Egypt’s Penal Code. These are the statement’s allegations and legal characterisations, rather than findings by a court.
It also urged social media users to exercise accuracy and objectivity and avoid what it called rumours intended to provoke controversy and confusion, saying all legal rights would be exercised and necessary measures taken.
Among the outlets that published the statement with identical wording, content and word order were Al-Watan, Al-Dostor and Cairo 24.
Abed Denied Earlier Allegations
In October 2016, Abed’s appointment as chair of the House of Representatives’ Human Rights Committee drew criticism from rights defenders over allegations linking him to the torture of a citizen during his police service in 2005. The National Council for Human Rights discussed the issue in light of the information available at the time.
The late Hafez Abu Saada, a council member and head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, told Al-Shorouk that Abed’s name appeared in the organisation’s annual report in connection with a torture case and in a specialised report issued in 2006 on torture in police stations. At that point, developments in the case and the prosecution’s decision had not been established. Abed denied the allegations in statements to the same newspaper.
This is not the first discussion of legal action by Zaki against Zawia3. In 2024, television presenter Mohamed Nasser discussed a message he said someone had sent him claiming Zaki had submitted a complaint against the site to the prosecutor-general and that Zawia3’s report was inaccurate. The message’s source was unidentified. In the same video, Nasser questioned whether the website worked with intelligence agencies, without supplying evidence for that suggestion.
What Zawia3’s Earlier Investigation Reported
In October 2024, Zawia3 published a report examining suspected financial and administrative irregularities surrounding Zaki, then an appointed member of parliament’s Legislative Committee by presidential decree. She subsequently became culture minister in the cabinet changes of February 2026.
The report discussed her time as chief executive of the Grand Egyptian Museum, lasting four months and twenty days after her appointment on May 27, before her service ended abruptly. It traced the matters under examination to 2019, when then Culture Minister Ines Abdel Dayem issued Decision No. 545 of 2019 to review the annual inventory of all contents of the Egyptian Academy of Arts in Rome, certain financial matters and litigation involving the academy in Italy. Zaki had headed the academy as the first Egyptian woman to hold that position since its establishment.
According to the report, a committee was formed under Ahmed Salah al-Din Bahgat, then head of the minister’s office sector, with State Council judge Essam Mohamed Refaat and accountants Tarek Mohamed Metwally, Azza Ahmed al-Hag and Mahmoud Youssef Hassan. The committee reported financial and administrative irregularities. Zaki left the academy before its arrival in Rome, despite formal notification on August 19, 2019, that it would arrive on August 20. She responded to the email only with “They are to be hosted,” before completing arrangements for her personal belongings and shipping them in preparation for leaving Italy.
The documents reviewed for the report showed that she left two days before the end of her lawful term, during which the financial and administrative handover should have been completed. According to the report, the academy was left without financial or procedural authorisations, with only €8.89 in its cash treasury and without formal banking arrangements to secure its operational needs.
The report also described financial settlements and disbursements made without official authorisations or direct-purchase forms. The financial attaché could not establish the legality or destination of expenditure ordered by the academy’s director at the time. The Culture Ministry’s accounts controller consequently rejected the submitted financial statements, citing suspicions that public funds had been appropriated without being spent for their stated purposes.
For financial years from 2012 to 2018, the report listed expenditure unsupported by official documents: €63,251 in 2012/2013; €11,654 in 2013/2014; €22,154 in 2014/2015; €1,578,065 in 2015/2016; €355,987 in 2016/2017; and €635,255 in 2017/2018. The report described these amounts as subject to suspicions of misappropriation, rather than established criminal convictions.
The committee also reported irregularities in disposing of academy assets. Instead of disposal procedures generating revenue, items were removed through payments to companies. The examples included disposal of equipment from an Egyptian antiquities exhibition in 2013 at a cost of €655,345 borne by the academy, and disposal of fittings from nine rooms in 2014 for €11,240, despite their refurbishment in 2009 and limited use.
An exhibition opened in Venice in September 2015 cost €32,980 without settlements or formal procedures substantiating the expenditure. For an international exhibition in Venice in 2016, €1,214 was spent on the academy director’s travel on opening day, plus €17,544 to host 204 visitors without accounting for Italian government taxes or charges, according to the report.
The reported irregularities extended to hiring irregular workers in 2017 in violation of Italian law. The associated costs included a €3,500 employment fine, €11,548 in insurance contributions, €5,800 in Italian lawyer’s fees, €4,352 for settlement of a case involving an improperly hired agricultural worker, €45,483 in compensation to another employee and €1,300 paid to a law firm.
Investigative reviews also identified a temporary-advances item under which money was disbursed on the academy director’s instructions without official documents or oversight, along with €2,244 spent over five months hosting people from outside the academy. The reviews found no annual inventory, no approved numbered disbursement books, and a failure to respond to the ministry controller’s objections concerning settlement of €5 million transferred annually from Cairo. Instructions not to send a prepared response to the minister’s office sector contributed to accumulated advances, according to findings attributed to the Central Auditing Organization.
The Committee’s Account and Requests for Comment
Judge Essam Mohamed Refaat confirmed the authenticity of the documents obtained by Zawia3. He said the committee identified approximately €5 million in financial irregularities during the final five years of Zaki’s work at the academy. No action had been taken on the committee’s report or its complaint to the Administrative Control Authority before his secondment as the culture minister’s legal adviser ended, he said. Presidential Decision No. 5 of 2020 then appointed her to parliament without the committee members being summoned or their evidence heard, according to his account.
Before publishing the earlier report, Zawia3 sought comment from Zaki to give her an opportunity to respond to its findings and information. She did not respond to those requests at the time.
