EGYPTIAN COURT TO HEAR MUBARAK RELEASE APPEAL

       Cairo, 14 Shawal 1434/21 August 2013 (MINA) – A north Cairo criminal court is to hear an appeal by Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday against a fresh preventative detention on corruption charges, judicial sources said.

       On Monday, Mubarak was found not guilty in one of the numerous corruption charges he is facing, drawing him closer to release as the number of charges he faces decrease.

      According to Ahram Online report quoted by MINA, the former president who was ousted in the 2011 revolution and detained shortly after, remains in prison pending investigations into another corruption case in which he is accused of illegally receiving millions of pounds worth of gifts from state-run publisher Al-Ahram.

      The president has recently reimbursed money equivalent to the value of the gifts to the state, raising the possibility of him being acquitted.

      The court will convene at Tora prison in south Cairo where the ousted leader is being held, sources said.

         The long-time autocrat, the first ruler ousted in the recent wave of Arab uprisings to stand trial, also faces a retrial on charges of complicity in the murder of protesters during the 2011 revolution.

        A retrial was ordered on appeal after an initial guilty verdict, with the appeal court citing “procedural failings.” The trial is still underway.

        However, the case does not require Mubarak to remain in custody, as his lawyer successfully argued that the former president has already spent the maximum time in prison for a defendant in pre-trial detention.(T/P05/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)