Ex-Egypt president, Mubarak, acquitted of murder charges

A court in Egypt has cleared Hosni Mubarak, a former president of the country, of the murder charges brought against him in 2011.

The 86-year-old was also cleared of a corruption charge involving gas exports to Israel and the charges against Gamal and Alaa, his sons, and seven of his senior officials.

Mubarak, his former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, and six others had been convicted of conspiracy to kill and were sentenced to life in prison in June 2012, but a retrial was ordered last year.

Mubarak, who was forced out of office in 2011, was alleged to be responsible for the death of 239 protesters during the 2011 uprising that put an end to his 30-year reign.

Referred to as the ‘Arab Spring’, the uprising spread across several northern African countries, leading to the ousting of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.

Commenting on the court ruling, Farid al-Deeb, Mubarak’s lawyer, told AFP news agency that the verdict was a “good ruling that proved the integrity of Mubarak’s era”.

According to AFP, the former leader said in a television interview that he had done “nothing wrong at all”.

But Mubarak is serving a separate three-year sentence for embezzling public funds.

Mohammed Morsi, the elected successor of Mubrak, was ousted by the military in July 2013, paving the way for army chief, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, who is also an ally of Mubarak.