The trial of former President Hosni Mubarak, his sons and four other defendants involving the alleged seizing of 125 million EGP (U.S. $18 million) worth of financial allocations was postponed Thursday by the Cairo Criminal Court to May 21.
Mubarak’s lawyer Farid el-Deeb requested an annulment of the referral order carried out by former Attorney General Talaat Abdullah, claiming that Abdullah’s designation has been revoked.
The prosecution denied Deeb’s claim and said the dismissal of Abdullah is not related to the decision he issued while in office.
During the session, the civil plaintiffs of Arab Contractors Company withdrew or waived the claim based on that the premise that the company was not negatively affected by the defendants.
In June 2013, the Supreme State Security Prosecution referred Mubarak and his sons to criminal court, which returned the case to the Attorney General, resuming investigations, according to Al-Watan news.
In November 2013, after investigations were completed, the Supreme Public Fund Prosecution referred the lawsuit to the criminal court again, adding four suspects to the case, including Mohie Eddin Abdel Hakeem, Amr Mahmoud Mohamed Khedr, Abdel Hakeem Mansour, and Magda Ahmed Hassan.
The four additional suspects face charges of facilitating funds between 2002 and 2011 for the benefit of Mubarak’s family to spend on their private villas in Heliopolis, Orabi, Katameya, Sharm El-Sheikh and Marina.
The suspects denied the charges, while the representatives of the prosecution demanded the application of the maximum penalty prescribed by law.
The Egyptian State Lawsuits Authority (SLA) will demand 125 million EGP (U.S. $18 million) as compensation in the lawsuit, according to Head of SLA Ezzat Ouda.
On Feb. 19, during the first trial session of the lawsuit, Mubarak’s lawyer Deeb said he obtained a document proving that the defendants were not involved in the seizure of public funds for the completion of a building.
The document shows that the concerned building belonged to the intelligence services, which is considered public property, said Deeb.
In August 2013, Mubarak was released from prison after exceeding the two-year legally mandated detention time while awaiting trial. However, his two sons are still in jail.
Mubarak was acquitted in another case involving corruption charges by returning gifts he had received from state-run institutions.
