Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak sits in the defendant’s cage as he listens to the verdict.—AFP

CAIRO: An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced ousted president Hosni Mubarak to three years in prison on corruption accusations, after he was cleared of murder charges in another case.

Mubarak and his sons Alaa and Gamal, also sentenced to three years, were present in the caged dock, wearing suits and sunglasses. Their lawyers may try to appeal. It was not immediately clear whether the sentencing took into account time served.

The three had all been arrested in 2011, months after Mubarak was toppled in a popular 18-day uprising after three decades in power.

State news agency MENA later reported that prison authorities contacted the prosecution to inquire about how much time the three had already spent in jail.

They had initially been sentenced to three years on the same charges but an appeal court overturned the original verdict.

Mubarak, who waved at his supporters in the benches before the judge read his verdict, was taken to the military hospital where he has spent much of his time since his detention in 2011.

He and his sons were fined $16 million — the amount they were accused of embezzling from funds meant for the maintenance of presidential palaces.

The court also ordered them to pay an extra 21 million pounds.

Before Saturday’s verdict, Mubarak and his sons had been free men after their pretrial detention period expired.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2015

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