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Egyptian Court Overturns Last Charges Against Hosni Mubarak — But Release Remains in Doubt

The long-time dictator has spent almost four years languishing in prison or in a secure military hospital. Now a judge has acquitted him of corruption and ordered a retrial.
Image via Reuters

Hosni Mubarak is still in prison, but no one seems to know why, or how long he will remain there.

Egypt's long-time dictator has languished either in Cairo's Tora jail or in a secure military hospital for nearly four years since his overthrow in 2011, but could be free within a matter of days after an appeal court acquitted him of corruption charges on Tuesday.

For the activists who were at the forefront of the 2011 revolution, the verdict will be seen as only the latest sign that the old order, which they fought so hard to depose, has returned. But, in a sign of their disillusionment, this time there were none of the protests of the sort which have previously greeted Mubarak's legal victories.

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Three sets of charges were levied against Mubarak after his arrest — one over the deaths of protesters during the uprising against him and two related to alleged corruption.

In November, the charge that he oversaw the killings of protesters was thrown out of court on widely questioned procedural grounds. More than 800 people had been gunned down across the country, mostly by police. Mubarak's lawyers insisted that he had not personally given the instruction to use lethal force.

The same month, he was acquitted of involvement in a series of deals which saw Egypt's oil sold off internationally at prices far below the market rate. The deals cost impoverished and indebted Egypt around $10 billion between 2005 and 2011, according to estimates compiled by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a Cairo-based rights organization. They vastly enriched Hussein Salem, a close friend of Mubarak's.

Tuesday's decision reversed a May 2013 ruling which sentenced Mubarak to three years in prison over the embezzlement of millions of Egyptian pounds from public funds, which were allegedly spent on improvements to mansions privately owned by Mubarak and his family.

The building work cited in the case included a mausoleum for Mubarak's grandson, who died in a playground accident aged 12 in 2009. They also included a Jacuzzi, luxurious candles to light a party, and improvements to several villas in the seaside resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.

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The case embarrassed key members of President Sisi's administration. The works had been carried out by the massive Arab Contractors Corporation, of which current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab was then the CEO.

According to an employee of the Administrative Oversight Authority (AOA) who discovered the embezzlement, the AOA boss, Sisi's long-time mentor and former intelligence chief General Farid al-Tohamy, tried to bury the case.

The judge who issued Tuesday's ruling did not explain the reasons for the acquittal, nor why he ordered a retrial in the case. He is set to issue the reasons at a later date. Mubarak has already served more than three years to which he was sentenced in May last year, yet he has not been released.

State media reported claims by Mubarak's lawyer Farid al-Deeb that there is no longer any legal basis for holding his client. An anonymous judicial source told the AP that the "paperwork is being processed" for Mubarak's release from the military hospital where he was transferred in August 2013. Other sources, speaking anonymously to the Egyptian press, said that the former president would be released only on the orders of the public prosecutor.

"It's still unclear as to whether Mubarak will be released," H.A. Hellyer of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings institution told VICE News. "The symbolism of any release shouldn't be underestimated, especially with regards to the army, which after all removed him. The narrative of the authorities at the top level is that a revolution took place, and was successful with the removal of Mubarak. How that narrative is maintained if he is released will be interesting."

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Egypt's judiciary have been accused of abandoning impartiality and using their position to defend Egypt's elites, while moving aggressively against both Islamist and secular critics.

The ruling is the latest in a series of decisions which have exonerated figures associated with the old regime and consigned hundreds of opposition activists to prison, or in some cases, to death by hanging.

'The narrative of the authorities at the top level is that a revolution took place, and was successful with the removal of Mubarak. How that narrative is maintained if he is released will be interesting.'

On the same day the judge issued his acquittal, a British trade delegation — described by officials as the UK's biggest to Egypt in 15 years — held meetings with business people and Prime Minister Mahlab.

The London-based human rights organisation Reprieve rebuked the British government for promoting the delegation to Egypt despite concerns over the state's commitment to human rights.

Reprieve's Maya Foa said in a statement: "It beggars belief that the UK is taking a 'business as usual' approach to a country where hundreds of people, including children, face potential death sentences in farcical mass trials. If David Cameron's proclamations about the need for human rights in Egypt are to be believed, why is his government boasting about its biggest trade visit there in 15 years?"

The UK minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Tobias Ellwood, said: "Britain wants to see a successful Egypt. Through investment, trade, and technical support, we are helping Egypt to build a strong and dynamic economy that creates jobs and opportunities for all Egyptians."

Follow Tom Dale on Twitter: @tom_d_

UK Brushes Off Human Rights Controversy to Promote Business With Egypt. Read more here.