CAIRO: Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, in court for alleged incitement to kill protesters and corruption, is to also stand trial this month on embezzlement charges, the prosecution said yesterday.
Mubarak, 85, has remained in a military hospital in Cairo since he was freed from prison in August after the maximum pre-trial detention period expired.
He had been convicted of involvement in the murder of protesters during the 2011 uprising that toppled him, but a court ordered a retrial last year on technical grounds.
The latest charges brought against Mubarak and his two sons Alaa and Gamal involve their alleged embezzlement of 125 million Egyptian pounds ($18m) earmarked for presidential palaces, a prosecution official said.
That trial will start on February 19, he said.
Alaa and Gamal are already on trial with their father in the murder and corruption case, along with seven of Mubarak’s former security commanders.
Meanwhile, an appeals court yesterday ordered the retrial of dozens of defendants including 21 people sentenced to death for a 2012 football stadium riot that killed 74 people.
The court accepted appeals by 62 defendants against a March ruling by a court that had confirmed death sentences for 21 defendants and handed down jail terms to 24 people, judicial sources said.
The court also accepted the prosecution’s appeal against the exoneration in March of 28 defendants, including seven police officers.
The stadium riot in February 2012 in Port Said was the deadliest sport-related incident in modern Egyptian history.
AFP
