Cairo: An Egyptian appeals court yesterday overturned a three-year prison sentence against ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak on corruption charges and ordered a retrial in the sole case pending against him. Supporters of the 86-year-old former leader broke into cheers and chanted “Long Live Justice!” as the court announced its decision.
In November, another court had dropped murder charges against Mubarak over the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his three decades of autocratic rule.
A lower court had handed down the jail sentence against Mubarak in May last year after convicting him of embezzling money earmarked for the maintenance of presidential palaces.
It had also given four-year jail sentences to the toppled leader’s sons, Alaa and Gamal. Four other defendants in the graft case were acquitted last year.
The Court of Cassation did not specify whether Mubarak was a free man following its judgement.
But defence lawyer Farid Al Deeb said that his client ought to go free as he “has already served” three years in detention, including the time he spent in custody awaiting trial.
“But he will remain in hospital because he is not feeling well,” Deeb said. A legal expert said there was no reason Mubarak would remain detained.
“Legally he should be released because he has either served his time or nearly finished it, and according to the law he could be released after serving two-thirds of his time,” said Gamal Eid, a legal expert at the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information. AFP
