Egyptian judicial officials have ordered former President Hosni Mubarak freed from jail, a stunning turnaround for the 85-year-old strongman who ruled the nation for three decades before being ousted in a popular revolution, and a move that could plunge the unraveling North African nation into further violence.
The announcement, which comes as Egypt is roiling with new protests following the ouster of Mubarak’s successor, stoked fears of even more violent reprisals from the Muslim Brotherhood, whose supporters have clashed with security forces and torched dozens of Coptic churches. Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Egyptians have been killed in the last week in fighting between the Muslim Brotherhood and the nation’s more secular Muslims and Christians. On Sunday, some 25 Egyptian police were ambushed and executed in the lawless Sinai Peninsula, where the Muslim Brotherhood appears to have aligned with Al Qaeda fighters.
Mubarak, who is on retrial for the killings of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising that led to his ouster, will be released from jail in the next 48 hours after a prosecutor cleared him of a corruption charge, his lawyer Fareed El-Deeb told Reuters.
He will still continue to stand retrial for the protesters’ killing but cannot be held in custody anymore because of a two-year limit for holding an individual in custody pending a final verdict.
Mubarak has been in detention since April 2011. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in June last year for his failure to stop the killing of some 900 protesters in the 18-day uprising against his rule. His sentence was overturned on appeal and he is now being retried, along with his security chief and six top police commanders.
Judicial authorities ordered Mubarak released in one of the remaining corruption cases against him, which alleged he and his two sons embezzled funds for presidential palaces, the Associated Press reports.
According to Deeb, the only legal grounds for the ousted president’s detention rest on one other corruption case which is slated to be cleared up this week.
Mubarak is also facing trial for alleged acceptance of presents from state newspapers but has already repaid their value. – foxnews.com
An earlier AFP report said, The trial of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on charges of complicity in the deaths of protesters was adjourned on Saturday until August 25, after a brief session.
Mubarak, 85, and his former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, are on trial with six members of the regime overthrown in a 2011 uprising.
Neither of the two men attended Saturday’s short hearing.
A first trial against Mubarak, which ended with him being sentenced to life, was overturned by an appeals court on the basis of procedural errors.
Mubarak is on trial along with his two sons, six former high-ranking security service officials and a businessman, Hussein Salem, who has fled to Spain.
He was overthrown in early 2011 in an uprising that left more than 850 dead, according to official figures.
The adjournment means Mubarak’s next court date will coincide with the beginning of the trial against senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Members of the organisation, including supreme guide Mohamed Badie, who is at large, are accused of inciting the deaths of protesters.
The organisation, which was banned during Mubarak’s time, came to power after he was overthrown, winning presidential and parliamentary elections.
But it was pushed from power by the military after massive June 30 demonstrations against Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, and many of its leaders are now in prison or on the run.
