Egypt politician jailed in blood bags scandal

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian criminal court sentenced a ruling party parliamentarian to three years in jail for supplying state hospitals with defective blood bags, court sources said on Thursday.

The trial is the second for Hani Surour, who was acquitted of the same charges last year before Egypt's Court of Cassation ruled that the original court had made a mistake applying the law and ordered a re-trial.

Opposition groups had previously cited Surour's acquittal in criticism of President Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party, which holds a majority in parliament.

Surour, who had headed parliament's economic affairs committee, owns a medical supplies company that sold thousands of blood bags to government-run hospitals.

Three other defendants also received 3-year jail terms in the case including two senior health officials and Surour's sister Nevin, who is a board member in her brother's medical equipment company, Hidelina.

Hidelina's factory manager and two other plant employees were sentenced to six months in jail. The defendants were also ordered to pay combined fines of 7.4 million Egyptian pounds in damages and penalties.

Experts and Health Ministry officials have said the bags provided by Hidelina were substandard and allowed their contents to spoil, putting the lives of patients at risk.