Egypt court overturns jail sentence of Hosni Mubarak in graft case

Mubarak, 86, was jailed for three years in May last year after being found guilty of fraudulently billing the government USD 14 million of personal expenses. But the Court of Cassation found legal procedures were not followed properly.

This is the last remaining case keeping Mubarak behind bars as charges of conspiring in the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising that ended his nearly three decades-long rule in 2011 were dropped in November last year. His two sons -- Alaa, 53, and Gamal, 51 -- were given four-year jail terms in the same graft case for which he got three years in prison. Collectively, they were fined 125 million Egyptian pounds and are required to repay 21 million Egyptian pounds. The former president and his sons were also cleared of two separate corruption charges.

The Court of Cassation, Egypt’s top appeals court, announced that it had overturned the three men’s convictions for embezzlement and ordered a retrial this morning. The Court of Cassation did not specify whether Mubarak was a free man following its judgement. At the original trial, prosecutors alleged that Mubarak and his sons had billed the government for more than 126 million Egyptian pounds of personal expenses -- including utility bills, interior design, landscaping, furniture and appliances -- for several private homes and a public palace that was fraudulently transferred to their ownership. Other expenses included renovating a villa, and building a new palace wing to accommodate one of Mubarak’s granddaughters and a mausoleum for a grandson who died.
Evidence submitted by prosecutors included more than a thousand original and forged receipts.