Mubarak and two sons to be retried on embezzlement charges

Egypt's supreme court yesterday ordered the retrial of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons in a case involving the embezzlement of funds allocated for the refurbishment of presidential palaces and upgrading of their communications equipment. The court ruled that proper procedures had not been followed in the case.

Mubarak (86) was sentenced to three years in prison last May, while his sons, Alaa (53) and Gamal (51) received four year sentences, for misappropriating $17.9 million in public money. They were ordered to return the original sum and pay a fine of $2.96 million.

As Mubarak has been imprisoned since April 2011, his lawyer, Farid al-Deeb, is set to demand his release from house arrest in a military hospital in the Maadi district of Cairo. Mr al-Deeb has also asked the public prosecutor to calculate the period of pre-trial detention for Mubarak’s sons in order to secure their release. Under Egyptian law pre-trial detention is considered time served.

Brutal crackdown

A retrial could also be ordered in the most serious judgment against Mubarak, interior minister Habib al-Adly and six associates, that they failed to curb the brutal crackdown that killed 846 protesters during the 18-day 2011 uprising, for which they were sentenced to life in prison in June 2012.

Last November there were angry demonstrations across Egypt when a lower court dismissed the charges because of a lack of evidence. Attorney general Hisham Barakat last week accepted grounds for appeal in this case. However, human rights activists say evidence has long been destroyed by police and the prosecutor’s office.

Mubarak has completed another prison sentence imposed after he was convicted of conspiring with fugitive businessman Hussein Salem to sell Egyptian natural gas to Israel at a fraction of the market price, costing Egypt up to $11 billion in lost revenue.

It is unlikely there will be large scale protests if and when Mubarak is formally freed. It is possible he could be left in hospital to avoid accusations that the government is conspiring with the judiciary to release him and members of his retinue. Trials, appeals, and retrials have confused and confounded the public. The situation has changed dramatically since the uprising that toppled Mubarak four years ago. Egyptians no longer take to the streets calling for “bread, freedom and justice”.

Destabilise

In July 2013 the streets were taken over by the Muslim Brotherhood calling for the reinstatement of ousted president

Mohamed Morsi

, a senior Brotherhood figure. Its demonstrations have not only turned Egyptians against the movement but also against protests that destabilise the country.

The tough line initiated by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has largely ended anarchy, but there are frequent bomb attacks in cities and towns across Egypt and the army faces a jihadi rebellion in northern Sinai.