Egypt to begin Mubarak, sons retrial in graft case on April 4

Cairo: An Egyptian court on Monday set April 4 date for the retrial of former president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons on graft charges.

In January, the court overturned Mubarak's conviction on corruption charges and ordered that he and his sons Alaa and Gamal be tried again.

The court, then, ordered the release of Alaa and Gamal from detention in graft case pending retrial.

Mubarak, 86, and his sons have been charged with acquiring millions of dollars from the budget and using it for the construction and development of family-owned assets.

They are also charged with forging official documents and willfully damaging public property.

A lower court had sentenced Mubarak to three years and his sons to four years for allegedly embezzling USD 16 million earmarked for the maintenance of presidential palaces.

Mubarak and seven former security commanders, including his former interior minister Habib al-Adly were cleared in November last year, against charges of killing anti-government protesters during the 2011 revolution.

The longtime president was retried on charges of complicity in the killing of unarmed protesters during the January, 2011 revolution that ended his 30-year rule.

In 2012, Mubarak was sentenced to 25 years in jail but the verdict was successfully appealed in January, 2013 as the presiding judge ruled that there was not enough evidence presented by the prosecution.