The Court of Appeals sentenced Egyptian real estate developer Hisham Talaat Mostafa to 15 years in prison for the 2008 murder of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim in her Dubai apartment.
A police officer, Mohsen al-Sokkary, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of premeditated murder and to three years in prison for acquiring a weapon without a license.
The court annulled a verdict by the Cairo Criminal Court challenged by Mostafa, and ordered a retrial on 6 February in a case that occupied public opinion.
The court based its verdict on forensic reports from Dubai that indicated cuts to the neck and the windpipe were the cause of death.
The court said that DNA acquired at the crime scene implicated Sokkary.
The court said that the footprints at the crime scene fit a pair owned by Sokkary, and that Sokkary used his credit card to buy a pair of shoes and a knife the day before the murder.
The court said that General Ahmed al-Naghi, an investigating officer, said that Sokkary enjoys close ties with Mostafa, who ordered him to watch, kidnap and kill the Lebanese singer.
Mostafa reportedly gave Sokkary 20,000 British Pounds, in addition to US$150,000. Sokkary got another US$1 million when he returned to Egypt.
The court said that Sokkary confessed to murder on 6 August 2008 during the first round of questioning.
