Court orders Egypt's ex-President Hosni Mubarak to be released

Deutsche Welle, 21 August 2013

An Egyptian court has reportedly ordered the release of ex-President Hosni Mubarak, who resigned in 2011 following a popular uprising. The news comes as European Union foreign ministers gather in Brussels.

Egypt’s long-term leader prior to the Arab Spring, Hosni Mubarak, has been granted release by an Egyptian court, state television reported.

It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors will appeal the order. In the past, when courts have approved Mubarak's release, prosecutors have leveled new charges to keep him in detention.

State news agency MENA said, however, that Wednesday's decision could not be appealed because it was issued by an appeals court.

Mubarak has been in detention for more than two years.

The decision to order Mubarak's release comes in a hearing on charges that he accepted gifts from a state-owned newspaper. It is the last case keeping the former leader in detention.

Mubarak however faces a retrial on charges of complicity in the death of civilians during protests before his resignation. He was convicted on the charges and sentenced to life in prison in June 2012, but had the verdict thrown out on appeal.

Crisis meeting

Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers are set to meet for emergency talks on the situation in Egypt.

The EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said ahead of Wednesday's talks that she was ready to return to Cairo and again seek to mediate between Egypt's warring factions.

"I have offered to go back. I told the Egyptian prime minister at the weekend that I would be more than willing to go back to Egypt if they wish me to come back," Ashton told reporters in Brussels on the eve of the foreign ministers' meeting. Most, or perhaps all of the EU's 28 foreign ministers are expected to attend on Wednesday.

Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and others have already suspended arms exports to Egypt. A major package of loans and grants worth almost 5 billion euros ($6.7 billion), agreed to on the condition of continued reforms in Egypt last year, might also be up for discussion.

The US is in similar discussions on what to do with its mostly direct military assistance for Egypt.

"Our aid and assistance relationship with Egypt is under a review, but it has not been cut off," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday, though he also said that "continued violations of basic human rights don't make the transfer of that aid more likely."

Badie, Morsi behind bars

At least 800 people have died in Egypt in the past week. Over 100 of them were security forces personnel, but most were supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. Ousted President Mohammed Morsi, whom Ashton met on her last stay in Egypt, remains in custody pending official charges.

Prosecutors in Egypt also said on Tuesday that the Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader, Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie, would be held for a further 15 days pending trial. Badie's arrest was made public early on Tuesday.

The military ousted Morsi on July 3. The situation in Egypt intensified on August 14, when police forcibly cleared two protest camps occupied by Morsi supporters in a sit-in started shortly before he was removed from office. More than 280 Morsi supporters were killed just in the larger of the two camps, outside the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque.

Brotherhood supporters have demanded Morsi's reinstatement, and the interim government says it is planning to usher in new elections.

Former interim vice president Mohamed ElBaradei resigned in protest over the violence, but is now being sued for a "betrayal of trust" by an Egyptian law professor.

hc,msh/tj (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)