Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak may be released from prison in three weeks’ time, the country’s Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki said on Sunday.
Mubarak’s conviction over his responsibility for the murder of demonstrators in Tahrir Square in 2011 was overturned two months ago, and a date for a new trial has been set. However, if the prosecution does not bring renewed charges against him, he will go free, said Mekki.
Mubarak was found guilty by an Egyptian court in 2012 of responsibility for the deaths of some 850 protesters during the 18-day uprising that removed him from office. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment. The verdict was overturned in January, 2013, however, and a new trial is set to begin in April.
Even if Mubarak is off the hook regarding the killings, Egypt’s public funds prosecution will summon him and ex-PM Nazif to answer charges of receiving illegal ‘gifts’ from the state-owned Gomhoriya newspaper.
Public funds prosecutor general, Mostafa El Hosseiny, has ordered Gomhoriya to ask key ex-regime figures including Mubarak and Nazif for reimbursement for gifts they received from the newspaper between 2007 and 2011.
According to Al Ahram, Mubarak faces charges of having received almost LE 1.4 million (about $200,000) in gifts from the state-owned newspaper, while Nazif is accused of receiving gifts worth almost LE 200,000.
Israel International News
