Egypt court orders Mubarak retrial over 2011 killings News
Egypt court orders Mubarak retrial over 2011 killings

[JURIST] Judge Anwar Gabri of the Egyptian Court of Cassation [official website, in Arabic] ordered a retrial on Thursday for former president Hosni Mubarak [BBC profile] regarding his complicity in the killings of hundreds of protestors in the 2011 demonstrations that ousted his regime. This order overturns his acquittal [WSJ report] by Cairo’s Criminal Court last November, and he is set to stand trial again beginning November 5. Mubarak was separately convicted of corruption [JURIST report] earlier this year and sentenced to three years in prison. The Cassation Court upheld the rulings in other cases that acquitted Mubarak and his sons of graft charges. Opponents of Mubarak view this decision for retrial as a victory [Reuters report] in a court system that has been too lenient, but his supporters claim there can be no stability in the region while Mubarak is treated “unfairly.” This retrial marks the third time this case will be heard, but its verdict will be the final verdict in this case.

Mubarak and other members of his administration have been the subject of controversial judicial proceedings since the Egyptian Revolution [JURIST backgrounder]. In April an Egyptian court began the retrial [JURIST report] of Mubarak and his two sons for corruption charges of taking public funds to upgrade family property. In January a court in Egypt overturned [JURIST report] the May 2014 convictions of embezzlement for former president Mubarak and ordered a retrial. In December 2013 an Egyptian court acquitted [JURIST report] former Egyptian prime minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq and Alaa and Gamal Mubarak of charges of embezzling public funds. In August 2013 Mubarak appeared in court for his first retrial on complicity charges [JURIST report] in the killing of more than 100 protesters during Egypt’s 2011 uprising. The same week Mubarak was released from prison and placed under house arrest [JURIST report] at a military hospital after a court concluded that he served the maximum in time allowed in connection with the long-pending corruption case.