Mubarak poised to walk free after retrial ordered
January 13, 2015
An Egyptian court on Tuesday overturned the last remaining conviction against deposed president Hosni Mubarak, ordering a retrial in the case and paving the way for the ousted leader's release from custody.
The 86-year-old Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for 30 years, was sentenced to three years in prison in an embezzlement case in May. His two sons, Alaa, 53, and Gamal, 51 received four-year sentences in the same case.
Mubarak and his sons were accused of spending more than 100 million Egyptian pounds (12 million Euros) of public funds on maintenance of presidential palaces.
With the Court of Cassation ordering a retrial, Mubarak is expected to walk free as the embezzlement case is the only one keeping him in prison.
Mubarak had been under house arrest at a military hospital in Cairo since August pending the retrial in a case of complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his rule.
In November, another court dropped those charges and cleared him in two additional embezzlement cases. The decision to drop the 2011 charges sparked violent protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square that left at least two people dead and nine wounded.
Mubarak's lawyer Farid al-Deeb told the AFP news agency that his client should go free because he "has already served" three years in prison. An official at the chief prosecutors office told the Associated Press "paperwork is being processed," for Mubarak's release.
bw/sb (AFP, AP, Reuters)