Egypt's Mubarak to stand trial

An appeals court in Egypt on Thursday annulled an earlier decision to drop the charges against Mubarak (pictured above, archive image) - meaning the former Egyptian president will face trial later this year.

The now 87-year-old had originally been sentenced to life in prison in 2012 on murder charges in relation to the deaths of protestors during the 2011 revolt which ended his three decades of rule.

An appeals court later overturned that verdict and ordered a retrial, which was held in November 2014. In that retrial a court dropped the charges on a technicality, but the public prosecution appealed against that decision.

On Thursday, Judge Anwar Gabri accepted the prosecution's appeal and said Mubarak would be tried again on November 5. It would be the third time Mubarak has been put on trial in connection with the killings during the so-called Arab Spring. He has been detained in military hospitals since his April 2011 arrest.

The court on Thursday upheld the acquittal of Mubarak's seven co-defendants, which included his security chief.

Differing treatment

There has been concern in Egypt that Mubarak and others implicated in the protestor deaths have been treated too leniently by the courts.

The overthrow of Mubarak in 2011 led to Egypt's first free presidential elections, with Mohammed Morsi voted in. Morsi held officer for only a year before the army overthrew him amid mass protests against his rule. The military chief who led the July 2013 coup, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, was elected Egypt's president a year ago after outlawing the Muslim Brotherhood organization which Morsi represented. Al-Sisi's government has cracked down on Morsi and his supporters, sentencing hundreds to death in mass trials.

Al-Sisi is currently in Germany on a controversial visit, in which he held meetings with Chancellor Angela Merkel. A press conference by the pair on Wednesday in Berlin was cut short after some in the crowd began yelling insults directed at al-Sisi.

se/kms (AP, Reuters, AFP)