Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
A court in Egypt has overturned the convictions for embezzlement of former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons and ordered a retrial.
Mr Mubarak was jailed for three years in May after being found guilty of fraudulently billing the government for $14m (£9.3m) of personal expenses.
But the Court of Cassation found legal procedures were not followed properly.
It was the last remaining case keeping Mr Mubarak behind bars. The 86-year-old has been in detention since April 2011.
Mr Mubarak’s lawyer told the BBC he hoped his client would soon be released from Cairo military hospital, where is being held.
Charges of conspiring in the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising that ended his rule in 2011 were dropped in November.
The former president and his sons – Alaa, 53, and Gamal, 51 – were also cleared of two separate corruption charges.
In November, a court cleared Hosni Mubarak of directing the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising
Egypt’s former president can now celebrate another legal victory.
After years of court cases, his last conviction has been overturned – though he faces a retrial. A handful of Mubarak loyalists cheered and shouted in court when his three-year sentence was quashed.
Even before today’s verdict, his lawyers said he was entitled to be freed because he had already spent three years in prison, when pre-trial detention is included.
A source in the Egyptian prison service told the BBC the former president would be released, once they had calculated the days already served.
BBC
In November, a court cleared Hosni Mubarak of directing the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising