Court orders release of Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal

The Cairo Criminal Court ordered on Thursday the release of the sons of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, as their retrial for embezzlement continues.
 
In May, 2014 Mubarak was sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of seizing over 125 million Egyptian pounds allocated to presidential palaces, while sons Alaa and Gamal were sentenced to four years each for aiding their father in the embezzlement.
 
Earlier this month, the Court of Cassation overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial. 
 
Family lawyer Farid El-Deeb was cited by Reuters as saying that the court’s decision today, means that Mubarak’s sons should be released, since they are not facing any other cases.
 
El-Deeb had challenged the verdict last July, calling for the sentence to be overturned.
 
Both he and the prosecution urged the Court of Cassation to order the retrial.
 
Mubarak and his two sons were taken into custody in April 2011. Alaa and Gamal have been jailed since then, while Mubarak was released in August 2013 when he was put on house arrest in a military hospital.
 
On November 29, 2014, the Cairo Criminal Court dropped  the case against Mubarak over complicity in the killing of protesters during the 18-day January 2011 uprising which toppled his regime.