An Egyptian court on Tuesday overturned a three-year prison sentence against ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak on corruption charges and ordered a retrial in the sole case still pending against him, AFP reported.
In November, another court had dropped murder charges against the 86-year-old former leader over the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his three decades of autocratic rule.
About 800 people were killed during the 18-day uprising that unseated Mubarak, during which protesters clashed with police across the country and torched police stations.
An Egyptian court also ordered a retrial into an embezzlement case against Mubarak, dropping the only remaining conviction faced by the ousted leader and potentially leading to his release.
Mubarak was sentenced to three years in jail in May for stealing public funds to renovate family properties. He has been serving that sentence in a military hospital in Cairo.
Now a retrial has been ordered, and judicial sources say Mubarak could walk free as no convictions against him remain.
It was not clear if Mubarak would remain in detention pending retrials.
Mubarak’s successor, Mohammed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood opposition group under Mubarak, was overthrown by the army himself in 2013 following massive protests.
Mubarak’s former military intelligence chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is now president.
