Alaa and Gamal Mubarak acquitted

Cairo Criminal Court acquitted on Thursday both Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of former President Hosni Mubarak, along with former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, in the case known as “the land of the pilots,” Egynews said on Thursday.

A wave of joy prevailed in the courtroom after the verdict. Mubarak followers chanted, "Gamal, tell your father, the Egyptian people love you."   

Shafiq and 10 other defendants, including Gamal and Alaa Mubarak, were accused of embezzling public funds.

Alaa and Gamal arrived at the headquarters of the North Cairo Criminal Court, situated at the Police Academy, on Thursday morning, to attend the hearing.

According to state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, the verdict was declared by Judge Mohamed Amer Gado and councilors Aly el-Nemr and Gamal Ragab Refai.

The case was initiated by former MP Essam Sultan in 2012 before the presidential elections, in which Shafiq lost to Mohamed Morsi. The former air force commander left Egypt for Dubai after losing the presidential runoff. Since then, he has faced three cases in absentia concerning the illegal sale of state land.

The case is called “the land of the pilots,” in reference to the below-value sale of land — formerly belonging to the Housing Association of Air Force Officers — to the Mubarak sons.

A judicial source from the general prosecutors office said on Thursday that Alaa and Gamal Mubarak would not be released following the acquittal, Al-Ahram reported.

They will remain in jail pending a decision on a final case against them, widely known as "the presidential palaces” case.