The Cairo Court of Cassation postponed Saturday the appeal presented by the defence team of former president Hosni Mubarak in the Presidential Palace embezzlement case to 9 January. Mubarak was sentenced to three years in prison in May after being found guilty of embezzling public funds to cover and renovate personal expenses. However, he appealed the verdict and was granted a retrial. During the session, Mubarak's lawyer Farid Al-Deeb said the Muslim Brotherhood interfered during their one year of rule "through former general prosecutor Talaat Abdallah" to prevent Mubarak's release. The trial session was attended by several of pro-Mubarak activists, who gathered at every trial to express solidarity. Mubarak was first detained on 12 April 2011, facing investigations into corruption and abuse of power. He was imprisoned pending investigations in the case of embezzlement case from 7 April 2013 to 19 August 2013, and again from 21 May 2014 to date. He, along with politicians such as former interior minister Habib Al-Adly, former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, and several others, have been acquitted in retrials of their original cases. Regarding the killing of protestors during the 25 January Revolution in 2011, the Cairo Criminal Court dismissed the murder charges against Mubarak and acquitted Al-Adly and his four assistants in what was dubbed the "Trial of the Century". However, the public prosecution appealed the previous verdict. Corruption accusations partly helped stoke the mass demonstrations that led to ousting Mubarak and his government. Meanwhile, activists and protestors have been subject to a harsh security crackdown that further intensified following the ousting of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Activists including Alaa Abdel Fattah, Ahmed Douma, and others were given prison sentences on protest-related charges amid heavy restrictions on public assembly due to the Protest Law. Journalists have also been facing threats and the press employees in Egypt have come under increased scrutiny since July 2013. The number of jailed journalists in Egypt's prisons has reportedly reached 58, according to the latest update by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI).
