/ 21 May 2014

Egypt court sentences Mubarak to three years for graft

Hosni Mubarak has been sentenced to three years in prison on corruption charges
Hosni Mubarak has been sentenced to three years in prison on corruption charges

An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced deposed president Hosni Mubarak to three years in prison on corruption charges, in one of two trials after the 2011 uprising that ended his rule.

His sons Alaa and Gamal each received four-year jail terms, and four other defendants were acquitted.

They were accused of embezzling more than one-hundred million Egyptian pounds (about $14-million) earmarked for the maintenance of presidential palaces.

Mubarak (86), wearing a grey suit, sat on a wheelchair in the caged dock for the verdict. His sons, in white prison issue clothing, stood beside him.

Mubarak had technically been a free man after a court ordered his release last year following the end of the permitted detention period, but has since remained out of sight in a military hospital.

He is now likely to be returned to prison. – AFP