Egypt's former top auditor, who exposed massive corruption in the country, has gone on trial on charges that include spreading "false news."

Hisham Genena, himself a former judge, has appeared before the Cairo Criminal Court, but reporters were barred from the hearings. Charges against him also include "disturbing" the country's security.

During Tuesday's brief session, Genena's lawyers asked for an adjournment in order to have more time to study the case.He is to be kept in police custody until the start of the trial, the date of which has yet to be set.In December 2015, Genena, the then-head of the anti-graft watchdog, the Central Auditing Agency, said in an interview that corruption had cost Egypt 600 billion pounds (around 67.6 billion dollars) that year.Later, he said he was misquoted, adding that the estimate covered four years.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi later dismissed him, capping a series of measures critics say were aimed at sacking the chief auditor after speaking up against corruption.

Genena was detained for a day earlier in June but released after his family paid bail.The opposition condemned Genena's dismissal, claiming it was aimed at muzzling dissent.