Monday’s verdicts are final and cannot be challenged.

The Cassation court also fined him EGP 50,000 and obligated him to pay EGP 1 million as temporary civil compensation, according to the court statement.

A Red Sea Criminal Court handed Abou Ali a one-year suspended sentence in May 2021, but the prosecution appealed against the ruling in June . The appeal was later accepted by the Court of Cassation

The defendant was accused of wrongfully causing – due to his gross negligence and lack of compliance with the law – the death of Mai Eskander while driving his car under the influence of intoxicants and drugs.

According to a statement released by Egypt’s Red Sea prosecution in January 2021, Abou Ali was officially charged with the possession of cannabis with the intention of consuming it and with wrongfully causing the death of Mai Eskander while driving under the influence of drugs.

The defendant, who was detained, was also accused of deliberately violating traffic laws and the rules of safe driving, the statement added.

The prosecution based its evidence on testimonies from five eyewitnesses and the prosecution’s inspection of the incident site, as well as on the defendant’s acknowledgement, during the investigations, that he used narcotic and alcoholic substances prior to the accident.

The defendant’s claim was substantiated by a report issued by the narcotic substances analysis department at the health affairs directorate in Hurghada governorate, as well as by another report issued by Hurghada general hospital.

At that time, social media users strongly criticised the perpetrator, who also happens to be the son of an Egyptian business tycoon, and urgently demanded that he be held accountable. On the other hand, they expressed great sympathy for the victim and much solidarity with her family.