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Final Mubarak verdict in killing protesters trial expected Saturday Hosni Mubarak's initial conviction and life sentence was overturned for lack of evidence
Cairo criminal court is to issue its final verdict in the retrial of former president Hosni Mubarak on Saturday. Mubarak, 86, is being retried on charges of complicity in the killing of around 850 unarmed protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his 30-year rule. His sons Gamal and Alaa, Mubarak-era interior minister Habib El-Adly, and six of El-Adly's aides are also being tried. Mubarak was forced out of power on 11 February 2011, following 18 days of mass protests which saw hundreds of demonstrators killed. The former autocrat was sentencedto 25 years in jail in 2012 for complicity in the protesters' deaths, but the verdict was successfully appealed in January 2013 as the presiding judge said there was not enough evidence from the prosecution. The retrial began in April 2013. The judge presiding over the case is Mahmoud Kamel El-Rashidi. In August, Mubarak was given the chance to defend himself in front of the judiciary for the first time since he was arrested. In a 30-minute speech that was broadcast on Egyptian television, Mubarak boasted to the presiding judge and the public of his achievements during his three decades of rule. "[I] would never orderthe killings of protesters and the shedding of Egyptians' blood, after I spent my life defending this country and its people," Mubarak said. El-Adly and his aides were also given the chance to defend themselves. Saturday's verdict could be appealed by Mubarak or the prosecutors. Mubarak along with his two sons are currently serving four-year sentences for embezzling LE125 million ($17.9 million) of funds earmarked for the renovation of presidential palaces. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/111741.aspx
