Hosni Mubarak murder trial: Egypt court dismisses charges due to lack of jurisdiction

An Egyptian court has dismissed charges against former President Hosni Mubarak for conspiring in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising due to a technicality and lack of jurisdiction.

Hosni Mubarak and his sons Alaa and Gamal were also cleared by Chief Judge Mahmoud Kamel al-Rashidi of corruption charges related to exporting gas to Israel.

In 2013, an appeals court overturned an initial life sentence given to Hosni Mubarak in 2012 on technical grounds.

Hosni Mubarak, 86, will not be released as he is serving a three-year sentence for embezzling public funds.

He denies all the charges against him.

Hosni Mubarak had been accused along with the former police commanders of involvement in the killing of 846 demonstrators during the 2011 revolt that ended his three-decade rule. Only 239 of the deaths were considered by the court, the presiding judge said.

In 2012, Hosni Mubarak – along with former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly – was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for complicity in the deaths of demonstrators during the 2011 revolt that eventually forced him to resign.

In January 2013, the Court of Cassation upheld an appeal by the two men against their convictions on technical grounds and ordered a retrial.

In August, a court ordered Hosni Mubarak’s release from prison and transfer to a military hospital in Cairo, where he is being held under house arrest.

Hosni Mubarak’s Islamist successor Mohamed Morsi lasted only a year in power following elections before being ousted by the military in July 2013.

The move followed four days of mass anti-government protests and Mohamed Morsi’s rejection of an ultimatum from the generals to resolve Egypt’s worst political crisis since the 2011 upheaval.

The former army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, was later elected as the country’s new president.