Mubarak likely to be released
Print Edition
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is being retried for the killings of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising that led to him being deposed, could be released from custody later this week, judicial officials said yesterday.
The officials said there were no longer any grounds to hold the 85-year-old because of the expiration of a two-year legal limit for holding an individual in custody pending a final verdict.
Mubarak has been in detention since April 2011. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in June last year for his failure to stop the killing of some 900 protesters in the 18-day uprising against his rule. His sentence was overturned on appeal and he is now being retried, along with his security chief and six top police commanders.
Yesterday’s stunning announcement came as security forces said suspected Islamic militants ambushed two minibuses carrying off-duty policemen in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, forcing the men out onto the pavement and shooting 25 of them dead.
The brazen daylight attack deepened the turmoil sweeping the country.
Yesterday’s killings, which took place near the border town of Rafah in northern Sinai, came a day after security forces killed 36 detainees during a riot on a prison-bound truck convoy north of Cairo. In all, nearly 1,000 people have been killed in violence between security forces and supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi since last Wednesday.
A few hours after the attack near Rafah, suspected militants shot to death a police major as he stood guard outside a bank in the city of el-Arish, also in northern Sinai, security officials said.
Tensions in Egypt have soared since the army ousted Morsi, Mubarak’s successor, in a July 3 coup following days of protests by Egyptians demanding the Islamist president leave and accusing him of abuse of power.
But Morsi’s supporters have fought back, staging demonstrations demanding he be reinstated and denouncing the military coup.
On Wednesday, the military raided two camps of Morsi supporters in Cairo, killing hundreds of people and triggering the current wave of violence.
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