Hosni Mubarak to be freed in days, officials say

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is on retrial for the killings of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising that led to his ouster, could be released from custody later this week, judicial officials said Monday.

The officials said there were no longer any grounds to hold the 85-year-old former autocrat because of the expiration of a two-year legal limit for holding an individual in custody pending a final verdict.

His lawyer predicted that he would be released by the end of the week, once corruption charges against him were cleared.

The former president is still being held on another corruption charge but the attorney, Fareed El Deeb, was confident that this charge would also be dropped within days, Reuters quoted him as saying.

“All we have left is a simple administrative procedure that should take no more than 48 hours. He should be freed by the end of the week,” Deeb said.

Murbarak also has an August 25 trial date for alleged complicity in the killing of some 850 protesters during the 2011 revolution that ultimately led to his ouster.

Since being deposed, Mubarak, whose health is failing, was charged with corruption and responsibility for the death of protesters.

Mubarak resigned from his position as president in February 2011 following mass protests across the country on January 25 protesting his planned participation in an election scheduled for September that year.

Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi won the election but a year later was himself ousted following even larger public protests and an army-led coup in early July.

In the weeks since, violent clashes between Morsi’s supporters and regime forces have resulted in close to 1,000 deaths.