Egypt’s Mubarak back in court, lawyer to seek his release

Egypt’s Mubarak back in court, lawyer to seek his release (AFP) / 21 August 2013 Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak will face a new court hearing on Wednesday during which his lawyer will seek his release from prison, judicial sources said. The hearing is the fourth and final case against the long-time president, who was toppled in a popular uprising in February 2011. Since April, courts have ordered Mubarak’s conditional release in the three other cases against him — two involving corruption, and one for allegedly killing protesters. The latest came on Monday when a court ordered his conditional release in the third case, which involved charges of corruption. His lawyer plans to appeal against the fourth and final case, which is also related to corruption, in a bid to secure the former president’s release, according to a judicial source. Farid al-Dib, Mubarak’s lawyer, is expected to argue that his client paid back $600,120 (449,570 euros) for gifts he received from his minister of information — the issue at the heart of the fourth case. The former president, 85, is on trial with his former interior minister Habib Adly and six police commanders on charges related to their rule before the 2011 uprising that toppled his regime. On Saturday, a court adjourned his trial on charges of killing protesters until August 25 in a brief session that Mubarak did not attend. He is facing the charges for a second time after a first trial that ended in him being sentenced to life was overturned by an appeals court on the basis of procedural errors. Taylor Scott International