Egypt's Criminal Court accepted on Thursday an appeal by prosecutors against an earlier court ruling to shelve investigations against ousted president Hosni Mubarak in the case commonly known as the "Ahram gifts". The court ruling implies that the public prosecution will be reopening investigations in the case. The ousted president was accused of illegally receiving gifts from the state-owned Al-Ahram media organization. In January 2013, Mubarak paid EGP 18 million (approximately $1 million) in compensation for gifts that he had received, along with members of his immediate family, from the state-owned Al-Ahram Press and Publishing Organisation. Mubarak's family also reimbursed state-owned newspaper Al-Gomhoreya with EGP 1.4 million for gifts received from the publication. Last year, a Cairo court ruled that investigations in the case should be shelved. Mubarak was released earlier this month following his acquittal on charges of killing protesters during the 25 January revolution in 2011. Since his ouster in 2011, Mubarak stood trial in a number of criminal cases on various charges, but has received only one final conviction in a corruption charge. In January 2016, the Court of Cassation upheld a three-year prison sentence for Mubarak and his two sons for using public funds – slated for the maintenance of presidential palaces – to upgrade their private properties. However, Mubarak was released from detention on the grounds of time served while undergoing investigation and trial. Following the verdict in that case, Mubarak's sons were also released on time served, have already spent more than three years behind bars pending investigation. Mubarak is still banned from travel pending investigations by the Illicit Gains Authority into the increase in his personal wealth since the 2011 revolution, according to his lawyer Farid El-Deeb. Prior to his release, the 88-year-old Mubarak was confined to Maadi Military Hospital for treatment since 2012. The former autocrat ruled Egypt from 1981 until a popular uprising ousted him on 11 February 2011.
