The Cairo Criminal Court accepted on Monday a challenge by the Public Prosecution to a Sunday ruling by the Nasr City Misdemeanor Court, which ordered the release of former president Hosni Mubarak pending investigations over charges of illicit gain.
Mubarak’s defense lawyer, Farid al-Deeb, requested a media-free session, and asked the session to be held in the judges’ deliberation room. He justified his request saying, “The prosecution wants to introduce unfounded arguments and to defame my client.”
Last week, the Cairo Criminal Court ordered the release of Mubarak pending retrial over charges of murdering protesters during the January 2011 revolution that ended his rule. Mubarak, however, remained in custody at Tora Prison over other charges concerning illicit gains, misuse of public funds and receiving gifts from state papers.
Courts are yet to decide over his custody in relation to the other two cases.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
