[AlAhram] Prosecution is calculating Mubarak's time served; his lawyers say he has already completed the required three years in detentionCairo Appeal Court has upheld a three-year-sentence against Mubarak on graft charges, but the former strongman will return home since he has served the full sentence, his defence team said.
The former autocrat and his two sons, who were out on bail, were moved to Tora prison soon after the court verdict, security sources told Ahram Online, in order for the prosecution to calculate their time served.
The Mubarak defence team stressed that the trio had spent the required detention period in jail, meaning they will be released as soon as the prosecution confirms this fact.
Another statement by the prosecution is expected soon on the status of the three men.
The court also reduced a sentence on his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, to three years - down from four - in the same case on graft charges.
Mubarak had initially received a three-year prison sentence in the case, and his sons four-year sentences each, but all three appealed the court ruling.
On Saturday, the court issued the three with a fine of LE125 million and ordered them to return LE21 million to the state.
Since the trio had spent over three years in preventative detention for this and other cases, Mubarak and his two sons are expected to leave the court to return home soon. Mubarak was in jail from April 2011 to August 2013 awaiting trial in various cases, and was then transferred to Maadi military hospital where he remained under house arrest for a further while. According to Egyptian law, pre-trial detention is counted as time served towards any possible sentence.
In May 2014, Mubarak, and his sons Gamal and Alaa were originally convicted of embezzling LE125 million allocated for the upkeep of presidential palaces in order to develop their own private buildings.
According to Egyptian law, in cases appealed by plaintiffs, courts can accept or reject appeals, or uphold or reduce verdicts, but they are not allowed to mete out an increased sentence.
In January, Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were released after serving the maximum period of preventative detention awaiting trials. The two still face charges of corrupt stock exchange dealings in a separate case.
This graft trial has been the only case Mubarak, who was tried on various charges, has received a prison sentence in.
In November, a court threw out a case in which the deposed autocrat was accused of complicity in murdering protesters during the January 2011 protests that led to his downfall. Egypt's Court of Cassation can still decide to accept or reject an appeal by the general prosecution on 4 June.
In the same month, Mubarak was also cleared in two other cases. The 87-year-old was cleared from charges of profiteering from his position by accepting presents in the form of villas in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, as the 10-year statute of limitations had expired. Graft charges were also dropped in a case in which he was accused of exporting natural gas to Israel at below market prices.