Egypt annuls decision to drop Mubarak murder charge

An Egyptian appeals court on Thursday annulled a decision to drop a murder charge against former president Hosni Mubarak over the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising.

The Court of Cassation accepted the prosecution's appeal against the dismissal of the murder charge against Mubarak, who had initially been sentenced to life imprisonment.

It was not immediately clear if the annulment also applied to Mubarak's seven co-defendants -- including feared former interior minister Habib al-Adly -- who were acquitted in November.

The court "accepts the prosecution's appeal and has set a session for November 5 to review it," Judge Anwar El-Gabry announced.

In 2012, a court sentenced Mubarak to life over the deaths of more than 800 protesters during the 2011 revolt.

An appeals court later overturned the verdict on technical grounds and ordered a retrial.

In November 2014 a court dropped the murder charge against Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades until he was forced from power by the 2011 democratic uprisings that swept the region.

That decision sparked an outcry among the opposition, which has been targeted by a sweeping crackdown by the authorities since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
Source: AFP