CAIRO: Egypt’s court of appeals on Saturday rejected an appeal by former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons over a three-year jail sentence for corruption, but the trio is unlikely to be imprisoned again having already served the sentences.
In May, an Egyptian court sentenced Mubarak and his sons to three years in jail without parole in a retrial on charges of diverting public funds and using the money to upgrade family properties.
The three will have to pay a fine of 125 million Egyptian pounds ($15.96 million) and return 21 million pounds to the state treasury.
A court source told Reuters that Mubarak and his sons had paid 104 million during the trial period.
Mubarak, who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011, and his sons Gamal and Alaa already spent at least three years each in prison for other cases.
Charges against him of conspiring to kill protesters during the uprising, centered around Cairo’s Tahrir Square, were dropped, and some of his associates were released from jail.
Angry supporters of Mubarak gathered at the court, however, chanting in support of Mubarak after the verdict was read. They carried banners that say “Mubarak is innocent.”
“This verdict is a betrayal to the history of Egypt,” one supporter, Hassan El Ghandour told Reuters.
Egypt court rejects Mubarak, sons’ appeal of jail sentence
Egypt court rejects Mubarak, sons’ appeal of jail sentence
Pro-Palestinian flotilla announces new mission to Gaza
- Israel controls Gaza's borders and scrutinises all aid coming into the territory
TUNIS: A flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists who attempted to reach Gaza last year will set sail for the besieged territory again next month, one member told AFP on Friday.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said the new mission set for March 29 would be "the largest coordinated humanitarian intervention for Palestine in history" and will mobilise "thousands from over 100 countries".
"We will be sailing from Barcelona, Tunis, Italy and many other ports not yet made public," Brazilian activist Thiago Avila told AFP.
The group said an overland convoy would also leave for Gaza on the same day, without specifying from where.
The campaigners sought to break an Israeli blockade by delivering aid to Gaza by sea last October, before they were intercepted by Israel, detained and deported.
Israel controls Gaza's borders and scrutinises all aid coming into the territory.
The activists describe their actions as a "non-violent response to genocide, siege, mass starvation, and the destruction of civilian life in Gaza".
