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Egyptian Court Grants Mubarak a New Trial Egyptian Court Grants Mubarak a New Trial
(about 1 hour later)
CAIRO — The prosecution on former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak took another turn Sunday, when a court in Cairo granted his appeal of a life sentence and ordered a retrial on charges that he failed to prevent the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising that toppled his government nearly two years ago. CAIRO — An Egyptian appeals court on Sunday overturned the life sentence of former President Hosni Mubarak for directing the killing of protesters and ordered a new trial, a ruling that could prolong a politically fraught legal battle over the fate of Egypt’s deposed autocrat two years after he was ousted.
The ruling read by judge Ahmed Ali Abdel-Rahman during the brief court session also overturned the conviction of Mr. Mubarak’s interior minister, Habib el-Adly, who is serving a life sentence after his conviction on the same charges. He will also be retried. Although expected, the decision may also put the issue of retribution for Mr. Mubarak and his inner circle back in the news just as a campaign begins for new parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for April. The court decision may bolster the prospects of the Islamist party of President Mohamed Morsi, who campaigned for president last year on a pledge to seek a retrial of Mr. Mubarak, capitalizing on anger over the weak conviction shortly after it was released.
Mr. Mubarak, however, will not be freed; he is being held for investigation on other charges. The defendants were not present in the courtroom. Mr. Mubarak, 84, was reported last year to have been close to death, but the current state of his health is unknown. Even as his opponents had begun collaborating with former members of Mr. Mubarak’s old party, Mr. Morsi has made legal action against leaders of the former government a priority, sometimes suggesting that corrupt former colleagues of Mr. Mubarak were behind a conspiracy to disrupt the transition to democracy.
His defense lawyers had argued that the former president did not know of the killings, but an Egyptian fact-finding mission has determined that he watched the uprising unfold on television at his palace. A ruling that overturned Mr. Mubarak’s conviction had been considered likely since his conviction last year. The judge who handed down the verdict said at the time that he was convicting Mr. Mubarak on the principle of presidential responsibility even though he had seen no evidence that Mr. Mubarak had personally ordered or directed the killings. More than 800 civilians were killed during the three weeks of protests that ended Mr. Mubarak’s 30-year rule almost two years ago.
The mission’s report could hold both political opportunities and dangers for Mr. Mubarak’s successor, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. A new trial would be popular, since many Egyptians were angered that Mr. Mubarak was convicted of failing to stop the killings, rather than ordering the crackdown. The court on Sunday erupted in cries of jubilation and protest after the decision was announced. Supporters of Mr. Mubarak jumped onto desks in the courtroom to celebrate and a handful of others demonstrated outside.
But the report also implicates the military and security officials in the protesters’ deaths. Any move to prosecute them could spark a backlash from the powerful police and others who still hold positions under Mr. Morsi’s government. The appeals court did not immediately disclose its reasoning, but early reports suggested that the court had found procedural problems in the conduct of the original hearings. In an interview with state media, Farid El-Deeb, a lawyer for Mr. Mubarak, said that ordering a new trial for the same crimes merely because the prosecution failed to produce any evidence would be impermissible double jeopardy.
The judge also granted the prosecution’s request to overturn not-guilty verdicts on Mr. Mubarak, his two sons and an associate of the former president, Hussein Salem, on corruption charges. Mr. Salem was tried in absentia and remains at large to this day. Mr. Mubarak, who has been held in the military hospital because of health concerns, will remain in custody. Perhaps in anticipation of the appeals court decision, prosecutors on Saturday ordered that Mr. Mubarak be detained for an additional period because of a new investigation that they have started into personal gifts he received from Al Ahram, the state media organization that publishes a newspaper of the same name.
A retrial was also ordered for six of Mr. el-Adly’s aides who were acquitted in the same trial. Five of them were found not guilty of involvement in the killing of the protesters, while one was acquitted of “gross negligence.” Now under new management, the same news organization reported Saturday that Mr. Mubarak was under questioning about gifts including gold pens, designer neckties, leather bags, shoes, gold jewelry and expensive watches that Al Ahram gave him between 2006 and 2011 as demonstrations of loyalty. The newspaper said Mr. Mubarak was facing possible new charges, including damaging public funds and improperly profiting from the gifts.
No date has been set for the start of the retrial of the 11 and it was not immediately clear if all of them would be brought before the same court as was the case in their first trial. Earlier this month, a presidential fact-finding committee presented a report to Mr. Morsi that accused Mr. Mubarak of having far more direct awareness the violence against the protesters that previously disclosed. The Web site of the information ministry last week reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the commission’s conclusions, that it found Mr. Mubarak had watched the brutal tactics of his security forces in the streets over a special television monitor in his office and also received “first hand reports.”
Mubarak’s sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal and businessman Alaa, are in prison while on being tried for insider trading and using their influence to buy state land at a fraction of its market price. Ali al-Gineidy, a member of the commission, told The New York Times that Habib el-Adly, Mr. Mubarak’s interior minister, had told the panel: “Mubarak knew everything, big and small.” Mr. el-Adly was convicted at the same trial as Mr. Mubarak, and his conviction was also overturned Sunday.
Sunday’s ruling came a day after prosecutors questioned Mr. Mubarak about $1 million worth of personal gifts he received from a state news organization over his last six years in office, the organization’s Web site reported. In November, Mr., Morsi set off an uproar across the country with a sweeping presidential decree that, among others things, sidestepped legal procedures to name a new chief prosecutor on the grounds that the previous, Mubarak-appointed prosecutor had failed to move aggressively enough against the leaders and cronies of old autocracy.
The investigation, conducted by the office assigned to investigate the misuse of public money, appeared to signal the determination of Mr. Morsi to bring new charges against Mr. Mubarak, the ousted former autocrat.

Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting.

Mr. Mubarak was questioned about gifts, including gold pens, designer neckties, leather bags, shoes, gold jewelry and expensive watches that Al Ahram, which operates several newspapers and other media outlets, gave him from 2006 to 2011 as demonstrations of loyalty, its Web site reported. Al Ahram said Mr. Mubarak was facing possible new charges, including damaging public funds and improperly profiting from the gifts.
Al Ahram had been run by Mubarak loyalists while he was in office, but its management changed after Egypt‘s uprising.
He was questioned in a military hospital where he is serving a jail sentence for overseeing the police killing of nonviolent protesters.
Mr. Morsi campaigned on a pledge to bring new charges against Mr. Mubarak