Alahram online
Court approves Saturday an appeal from ousted president Hosni Mubarak for release pending trial for profiteering but will remain in prison for another corruption case
El-Sayed Gamal El-Din, Saturday 20 Apr 2013
A court Saturday approved an appeal filed by Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak for release pending trial on profiteering charges.
The ousted president had appealed for a release pending the profiteering trial, but he will still remain in detention pending another trial where he is accused of public funds squandering.
Following the court's decision, Prosecutor General Judge Talaat Abdallah announced he will appeal the verdict, sources told Ahram Online.
Mubarak's lawyer Farid El-Deeb said, following the release order, he will file for an appeal for release pending the other two corruption trials when it is legally permissible.
According to Egyptian law, the maximum amount of time for detention pending trial is 180 days.
The appeal review session was held inside Tora Prison in southern Cairo, where Mubarak is currently held.
On 7 April, Mubarak was slapped with 15 more days in detention pending investigation on charges of having illegally obtained funds earmarked for the renovation of presidential palaces when he was president.
On Monday 15 April, the court had ordered the release of Mubarak without bail over charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during Egypt's revolution, after defence lawyer Fareed El-Dib submitted a memorandum stating his client had already spent two years in provisional detention, which is the maximum allowed under Article 143 of the criminal procedures law.
Last June, Mubarak received a life sentence for failing to protect peaceful protesters during the January 25 Revolution, but in January he was granted a retrial due to procedural irregularities in the initial tria
