Ousted Egypt president Mubarak walks free after six years in jail

Mubarak was accused of inciting the deaths of protesters during 2011’s revolt, in which 850 people were killed as police clashed with demonstrators.

Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak left a military hospital on Friday, where he had spent much of his six-year detention, his lawyer said.

Mubarak was sentenced to life in 2012, but the charges against him were dismissed two years later. (Reuters File)

Mubarak had been cleared for release earlier this month after a top court finally acquitted him of involvement in protester deaths during the 2011 revolt that ousted him.

Mubarak was accused of inciting the deaths of protesters during the 18-day revolt, in which about 850 people were killed as police clashed with demonstrators. He was sentenced to life in 2012 in the case, but an appeals court ordered a retrial which dismissed the charges two years later.

Egypt’s top appeals court on March 2 acquitted him of involvement in the killings.

In January 2016, the appeals court upheld a three-year prison sentence for Mubarak and his two sons on corruption charges. But the sentence took into account time served. Both of his sons, Alaa and Gamal, were freed.

On Thursday, a court ordered a renewed corruption investigation into Mubarak for allegedly receiving gifts from the state owned Al-Ahram newspaper.

Meanwhile several key activists in the 2011 uprising are now serving lengthy jail terms, and rights groups say hundreds of others have been forcibly disappeared.