Dozens of pro-Hosni Mubarak supporters gathered in Cairo early Tuesday to salute the ousted president at the Maadi Military Hospital for his role in the 6 October War of 1973.
The fragile and elderly former president, who was ousted in February 2011 after huge protests against his rule erupted across the country, responded to his supporters by appearing on his hospital suite's balcony and waving to the crowd.
The supporters carried placards supportive of the ex-president and shouted pro-Mubarak chants. Mubarak was the commander of Egyptian air forces in the 1973 war.
This is the first time Mubarak has appeared in public since a court upheld last May a three-year sentence against him on graft charges.
In May 2014, Mubarak and his sons were convicted of embezzling LE125 million allocated for the upkeep of presidential palaces in order to develop their own private buildings.
In November, a court threw out a case in which the deposed autocrat was accused of complicity in murdering protesters during the January 2011 protests that led to his downfall. Egypt’s Court of Cassation can still decide to accept or reject an appeal by the general prosecution on 4 June.
In the same month, Mubarak was also cleared in two other cases.
The 87-year-old was cleared of charges of profiteering from his position by accepting presents in the form of villas in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, as the 10-year statute of limitations had expired.
Graft charges were also dropped in a case in which he was accused of exporting natural gas to Israel at below market prices.
