Egyptian court rejects Mubarak's release during corruption inquiry

29 Apr, 2013

An Egyptian court on Sunday rejected a request by former president Hosny Mubarak to be released from prison during an investigation into corruption charges. The prosecution had requested that Mubarak be detained for 15 days while the investigation was being carried out.
Mubarak, 84, is currently being held in the hospital at Tora prison in southern Cairo. He has been detained there since December when his health reportedly deteriorated after a fall.
His retrial on charges of involvement in the deaths of protesters in 2011 is scheduled to start May 11.
The protests eventually led to his ouster that same year. More than 840 people were killed in the revolt.
Mubarak and his former interior minister Habib al-Adli were given life sentences in June in an initial trial, which was voided by Egypt's highest court in January.
This month, another court ordered Mubarak's release pending his retrial, saying he had served the maximum of two years in provisional detention for the case, but he remained in custody because of the investigation into the corruption charges.
The prosecutor's office said Mubarak is facing investigations over allegations of making illicit gains, receiving gifts from media organisations and taking state funds allocated to the restoration of the presidential palaces.

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