Hisham Talaat Moustafa, the Egyptian billionaire and prominent member of the ruling party who paid a hitman $2 million to kill Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim, has finally escaped the gallows.

Last year Moustafa was sentenced to death for the crime, along with the hitman, a former Egyptian police officer.

Because of the publicity that surrounded the murder, it was difficult for the Egyptian authorities to avoid taking action against Moustafa, despite his status. Following his initial trial and the death sentences, manoeuvrings began to save him from execution (here and here) – including talk of paying $125 million in blood money to Tamim's family.

Eventually a re-trial was ordered and yesterday the judge unexpectedly pronounced sentence (without hearing the summing up from defence lawyers): 15 years for Moustafa and a life sentence for the hitman.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 29 September 2010.