Mubarak gets nod to exit prison on Monday

Prosecutor says Egyptian ex-president may leave military hospital following acquittal over 2011 protester killings

CAIRO — An Egyptian prosecutor allowed for former president Hosni Mubarak to be released on Monday, his lawyer said, after an appeals court acquitted him of involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising earlier this month.

“He can go home now when the doctors decide he is able to,” Farid al-Deeb said, adding that Mubarak is banned from leaving Egypt pending an ongoing graft investigation.

Al-Deeb told Reuters that Mubarak will return to his home in Heliopolis either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Mubarak, 88, has been in detention at a military hospital in Cairo, where he has spent most of his time since his arrest in 2011.

Egypt’s top appeals court on March 2 acquitted Mubarak of involvement in the killing of protesters during the revolt that toppled him, ending the final trial for the strongman who ruled for 30 years.

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. (AP/Mohammed Abu Zaid)

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.

Amid public anger, prosecutors had levelled various charges against Mubarak following his February 2011 resignation.

Mubarak was sentenced to life in 2012, but an appeals court ordered a retrial, which dismissed the charges two years later.

In January 2016, the appeals court 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.