The Egyptian Court of Cassation on Thursday acquitted ex-president Hosni Mubarak on charges of complicity in deaths of protesters during the unrest in 2011, local media reported.
In June, 2015, the court upheld the complaint of the Attorney General on the acquittal and ordered a retrial. All other defendants, including former Interior Minister Habib Adly, were finally acquitted.
On January 25, Egypt marked the fifth anniversary of the Arab spring uprising that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.
Unrest in Egypt started with a peace demonstration on January 25, 2011 over demands for minimum wage rises, the resignation of the internal affairs minister and the democratization of society. The demonstrations passed for the most part peacefully but clashes broke out in Suez where the first blood was spilled.
In the following days, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets. Police were unable to keep the massive protests under control and effectively backed away.
After days of mass protests, President Mubarak resigned and handed over power to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on February 11, 2011.
At least 800 people were killed and several thousand injured during the protests and subsequent riots.
Former President Mubarak, his sons and the majority of the country’s top officials were put on trial.
In June 2012, the Cairo Criminal Court found Mubarak guilty of involvement in the death of peaceful protesters during the January 2011 popular uprising and was sentenced to life in prison but in November 2014 the Cairo court dropped charges against him.
The ruling provoked a public outcry. The Prosecutor General’s Office appealed the ruling over procedural violations. In June 2015, the Egyptian Court of Appeal granted the prosecutor’s challenge. The retrial of Hosni Mubarak on charges of involvement in the killing of protesters will start on April 7, 2016. It will be the last trial for Mubarak on these charges, while the verdict will be final and not subject to appeal.
In January 2015, the Egyptian Court of Appeal overturned the May 2014 verdict for Mubarak and his sons and ordered a retrial on embezzlement charges.
On May 9, 2015, a Cairo court sentenced Mubarak and his sons to three years in a high-security prison for corruption-related crimes.
On May 13, 2015, despite his conviction on corruption charges, Mubarak was released from custody as the court found he had already served the term during pretrial detention.
