Egyptian Court Orders Release of Mubarak

An Egyptian court on Wednesday ordered the release of former president Hosni Mubarak, toppled in Egypt’s 2011 popular uprising. The release came after the court accepted Mubarak’s appeal against charges that he had received millions of Egyptian pounds worth of “gifts” from flagship state daily Al-Ahram in the period from 2006 to 2011. It was the last case for which Mubarak had been remanded in custody. On Monday, the former leader was acquitted of embezzlement charges in connection with his alleged use of public funds to renovate private villas. Mubarak – along with his two sons, former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six of the latter’s aides – is also being retried on charges of complicity in the killing of unarmed protesters during the 2011 revolution that ended his 30-year rule. But the criminal court overseeing the trial said the ousted leader could be released, since he had already served the maximum time legally allowed – two years – for temporary detention. A first trial, which ended with a life sentence for Mubarak, was overturned by an appeals court early this year on grounds that the trial had been marred by procedural errors. Mubarak was ousted in Egypt’s 2011 popular revolution after having ruled the country since the 1981 assassination of president Anwar Sadat.