Mubarak released in one case, but remains in custody

Cairo, April 20 (IANS) A court in Egypt decided Saturday to temporarily release former president Hosni Mubarak over charges of illicit gains, but still ordered he be kept in custody over other cases, the official MENA news agency reported.

The decision of the Court of Appeals came in response to Mubarak's appeal over his continuous detention in a case of graft and illicit gains.

The court, presided over by Judge Ahmed Salah al-Shehabi, decided to "wholly accept the appeal in form and substance and to release the defendant (Mubarak),"

Despite the court's decision, Mubarak will remain in temporary custody over other two cases - over looting public funds allocated for maintenance of presidential palaces and for getting deluxe gifts from state-owned newspapers.

Earlier this week, Mubarak was ordered back to prison from military hospital.

His retrial will open May 11, BBC reported.

The former president is charged alongside his former interior minister and six former security chiefs with complicity in the murder and attempted murder of hundreds of protesters during an uprising in January 2011.

About 850 people were killed in the crackdown during the uprising that ended Mubarak's rule.

Mubarak will also face a retrial on corruption charges, along with his sons, Alaa and Gamal, and businessman Hussein Salem. They were found not guilty the first time.

Mubarak was convicted in June 2012 of conspiring to kill protesters during the 2011 revolt. He was sentenced to life in prison.

However, a retrial was ordered in January after he appealed against the sentence, with the court citing "procedural failings".