A criminal court in Cairo has sentenced Youssef Boutros-Ghali, the former Egyptian finance minister, to 30 years in prison on corruption charges.

Boutros-Ghali was tried in absentia and sentenced on Saturday for squandering $6m in public funds and abuse of other funds that he had access to.

The former minister, who is out of the country, has also been fined $11m (around 70m Egyptian pounds).

Boutros-Ghali has been on the run since February 11, the day Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president, and is on Interpol's wanted list.

The court found him guilty of having used 102 cars waiting in customs - including six luxury cars for personal use - in an action which "greatly harmed the financial interests" of their owners.

He was also found guilty of having used the finance ministry's resources for his personal electoral campaign, printing materials at the expense of the ministry.

Boutros-Ghali is one of a string of Mubarak-era ministers to face justice as part of a sweeping investigation into fraud by Egypt's new military rulers.

Mubarak is to face trial on August 3, along with his two sons Alaa and Gamal, accused of ordering the shooting of anti-government protesters during the January-February uprising and for fraud.

The once feared interior minister, Habib al-Adly, has been sentenced to 12 years for corruption and is facing a second trial over the killing of protesters.
(Al Jazeera)