Egyptian Culture Minister resigns over plagiarism case

Egyptian Culture Minister Jehan Zaki has submitted her resignation to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly following a court's decision confirming her guilt in an intellectual property infringement case. The Cassation Court upheld a previous ruling by the Economic Court, which found Zaki liable for infringing on the rights of writer Soheir Abdel-Hamid.

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I respect the rulings of the Egyptian judiciary.

The legal judgment mandates that the Culture Minister pay LE100,000 (approximately $2,100 USD) in compensation to Abdel-Hamid and completely remove her book from circulation. The verdict was based on a report from a committee of intellectual property experts who confirmed the presence of verbatim plagiarized passages that compromised the original work's integrity.

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I submitted my resignation to spare the government any embarrassment.

In a statement, Zaki expressed her respect for the Egyptian judiciary. She explained that her resignation was intended to prevent any potential embarrassment for the government. However, she also affirmed her intention to explore all available legal options, including further appeals, asserting that pursuing legal rights does not contradict respect for judicial rulings. Prime Minister Madbouly accepted the resignation, thanking Zaki for her service and wishing her well in her future endeavors.

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I will pursue all available legal avenues, including appealing the rulings, as permitted by law, since exercising legal rights does not conflict with respecting judicial decisions.