Egypt court rejects Mubarak's appeal for reconciliation in corruption case

An Egyptian court declined on Saturday an appeal for reconciliation in a corruption case submitted by ousted former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons, official MENA news agency reported.

In this Sept. 14, 2013 file, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, seated, and his two sons Gamal Mubarak, left, and Alaa Mubarak, right, attend a hearing in a courtroom at the Police Academy, Cairo, Egypt. [Photo: IC]

Mubarak and his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, were sentenced in May 2015 to three years in prison for embezzling funds meant for maintaining presidential palaces.

They were also sentenced to collectively pay a fine of about 126 million Egyptian pounds (7 million U.S. dollars) and return about 21.2 million pounds.

Gamal and Alaa were released in October 2015 since their jail term was covered by the years they had already served in provisional detention. 

Mubarak has been receiving treatment in a military hospital in Cairo, where he spent most of his provisional detention years until he was discharged in March 2017.

In March 2017, Mubarak was acquitted of the charges of killing protesters during the 2011 uprising that led to his ouster. 

Mubarak's two sons, along with other defendants, are also accused of making illegal financial gains of over 493 million Egyptian pounds by allowing a Cyprus company to acquire a national bank's shares through hidden deals. 

On Thursday, Cairo Criminal Court decided to release Gamal and Alaa on bail of 100,000 Egyptian pounds each and set Nov. 20 for the resumption of their trial.