Mubarak walks free for first time in 6 years: Egyptian lawyer

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president overthrown in 2011 and the first leader to face trial after the Arab Spring uprisings that swept the region, walked free on Friday for the first time in six years, his lawyer Farid El-Deeb said.

He left the Maadi Military Hospital where he had been detained, heading to his home in Heliopolis.

A Cairo appeals court cleared Mubarak earlier this month on charges of killing protesters in the 2011 uprising that ended his 30 years-rule.

On Thursday, the court accepted an appeal by prosecutors against an earlier court ruling that shelved investigations against Mubarak in the case commonly known as the Ahram gifts.

According to the court, the prosecution has reopened investigations in the case.

The ousted president was accused of illegally receiving gifts from the state-owned Al-Ahram media organisation.

Since his ouster in 2011, Mubarak has stood trial in a number of criminal cases on various charges, but has received only one final conviction on a corruption charge.

In January 2016, the Court of Cassation upheld a three-year prison sentence for Mubarak and his two sons for using public funds, slated for the maintenance of presidential palaces, to upgrade their private properties.

However, Mubarak was released from detention on the grounds of time served while undergoing investigation and trial.

Mubarak is still banned from travel pending investigations by the Illicit Gains Authority into the increase in his personal wealth since the 2011 revolution, according to his lawyer Farid El-Deeb.

Prior to his release, the 88-year-old had been confined to the hospital while undergoing treatment since 2012.

The former autocrat ruled Egypt from 1981 until a popular uprising ousted him on 11 February 2011.

Source: Reuters