Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in a courtroom in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, May 9, 2015. (photo credit: AP/Hassan Ammar)
CAIRO — Egypt’s top appeals court on Thursday acquitted ex-president Hosni Mubarak of involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolt that ended his three-decade reign, a judicial official said.
Mubarak had been sentenced to life in 2012 but an appeals court ordered a retrial, which dismissed the charges two years later.
Thursday’s ruling by the Court of Cassation is final.
Judge Ahmed Abdel Qawi announced: “The court has found the defendant innocent,” according to an al-Jazeera report.
The trial was Mubarak’s final one, after prosecutors levelled various charges against him following his February 2011 resignation.
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He was accused of inciting the deaths of protesters during the 18-day revolt, in which about 850 people were killed as police clashed with demonstrators.
In this Wednesday, Februay 2, 2011 file photo, supporters of President Hosni Mubarak, riding camels and horses, fight with anti-Mubarak protesters in Cairo, Egypt. (Photo credit: AP/Mohammed Abu Zaid, File)
The court also rejected demands by victims’ lawyers to reopen civil suits against the former president.
Mubarak, 88, has spent most of his time in a military hospital since his arrest in 2011.
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In January 2016, the appeals court had upheld a three-year prison sentence for Mubarak and his two sons on corruption charges.
But the sentence took into account time served. Both his sons, Alaa and Gamal, were freed.
In this Saturday, June 2, 2012, photo, the two sons of ex-president Hosni Mubarak, Gamal, left, and Alaa Mubarak, right, arrive at the police academy courthouse in Cairo, Egypt. (photo credit: AP)
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