Court orders retrial for Mubarak and sons in ‘mansions’ case

The Court of Cassation accepted the appeal of former President Hosni Mubarak and ordered a retrial for him and his sons, who were previously found guilty of embezzling state funds, on Tuesday morning.

Mubarak and his sons, Gamal and Alaa, were convicted of embezzling over LE100 million last May. Mubarak was sentenced to three years in prison, and his sons four, in what has become known as the “Mubarak Mansions” case. Mubarak has been serving his prison term in a military hospital in Cairo due to ill health.

The defendants were also fined LE125 million and were ordered to return another LE21 million to the state. The Mubaraks had previously returned LE104 million of the embezzled money in a show of good faith.

Following the Court of Cassation’s decision, a representative for the public prosecutor stated that Hosni Mubarak and his two sons were guilty of taking LE125,779,237 from the Communications Center’s public budget.

A representative from the public prosecutor’s office told the stated-owned Al-Ahram newspaper that from 2002 to 2011 the former president facilitated the appropriation of public funds for his private homes and projects.

Fareed al-Deeb, the head of Mubarak’s defense team, stated to Al-Ahram that the first conviction was wrong and the second trial would exonerate them of any crime.

If Mubarak is found innocent, he will no longer face criminal charges in any case. In November, the former president, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six Interior Ministry officials were cleared on charges of conspiring to kill protesters during the January 25, 2011 revolution.

Had the Court of Cassation upheld the previous conviction, Mubarak would still have walked free, as he has already served his mandated prison time. Tuesday’s decision means he will be released from prison pending investigation.

However, an unnamed source close to Mubarak’s family told the privately owned Al-Shorouk newspaper on Monday that Mubarak would remain in the military hospital even if granted a retrial, as it would be difficult to guarantee his security in a private residence.