Ukraine in Arabic | The Mubarak’s acquittal to be appealed in Cairo
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ Egypt's former longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak was cleared of charges in a retrial Saturday and could soon be released -- a stunning reversal for a man who faced life imprisonment or worse after a revolution toppled him in 2011.
A Cairo judge dismissed charges linking Mubarak to the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 revolt and found him not guilty of corruption.
Egypt's prosecutor general appealed Tuesday against a court decision acquitting ousted president Hosni Mubarak, his interior minister and six of his aides of charges of ordering the killing of protesters during 2011's popular uprising, citing flaws in the ruling.
"The prosecutor general's technical team has concluded that that verdict was not without legal flaws," said a statement by the prosecutor's office.
"A study of the reasons for the ruling (issued on Saturday) revealed legal flaws that tinged the judgment," public prosecutor said in the statement.
Such an appeal is an integral part of the legal process in Egypt and had been expected.
The appeals court must now decide whether to accept the appeal and order a retrial or to reject it, thereby upholding the decision to drop the criminal charges against Mubarak.
If Mubarak is retried in the case, it would be for the third and final time under Egyptian law.
The appeal will be submitted to the Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest appellate court, which is expected to order a second trial in case the prosecutor's appeal was accepted, according to Egyptian law.
On Saturday, a criminal court dropped charges against Mubarak, his interior minister and several Interior Ministry officials that they had conspired to kill protesters during the uprising which forced Mubarak out of power in early 2011.
The ruling has triggered angered reactions in parts of Egypt, with some relatives of the slain protesters taking to the streets to protest the autocrat's acquittal.
Two people were killed late on Saturday near Cairo's Tahrir Square during a protest against the ruling.
Mubarak and his interior minister Habib al-Adly, as well as six of the latter's aides, were sentenced to 25 years in prison in late 2012 for ordering the murder of demonstrators during the 2011 uprising.
The court later, however, ordered a retrial after the former president's lawyers successfully appealed the sentence.
Many Egyptians who lived through Mubarak's rule view it as a period of autocracy and crony capitalism. His overthrow led to Egypt's first free election. But the winner, Mohamed Mursi, was ousted last year by then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi following protests against his rule.
Sisi, who went on to win a presidential election in May, launched a crackdown on Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood. Authorities have jailed thousands of Brotherhood supporters and sentenced hundreds to death in mass trials that drew international criticism.
By contrast, Mubarak-era figures are steadily being freed and a series of laws curtailing political freedoms have raised fears among activists that the old leadership is regaining influence.
