Egypt: Sons of Hosni Mubarak released pending retrial

Gamal and Alaa Mubarak are accused of embezzlement

An Egyptian court has ordered the release of Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, the sons of former President Hosni Mubarak, pending a retrial.

The conviction of Mr Mubarak and his sons was overturned on 13 January over legal procedures.

The former president remains in a military hospital where he has been serving his sentence.

The sons' release comes three days before the fourth anniversary of the revolution that forced him from power.

The Mubaraks' lawyer, Farid al-Deeb, told the French news agency AFP that Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were free to leave prison after the court order because they had served the maximum pre-trial detention period.

A court had ruled that legal procedures were not properly followed when they were convicted.

Mr al-Deeb added that Hosni Mubarak, who also faces a retrial, would also be free to go, but state media reported that there had been no orders yet for his release.

Last case

The former president was found guilty of embezzlement in May 2014 and sentenced to three years in prison. His sons were sentenced to four years each.

They were accused of diverting $17.6m (£11.6m) meant for maintenance of presidential palaces to renovate their private residences in Cairo and on the Red Sea coast, as well as a family farm.

After years of court cases, this was the last conviction still hanging over Mr Mubarak.

Charges of conspiring in the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising that ended his rule in 2011 were dropped in November.