Egypt’s ex-president freed after six years

CAIRO: Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president overthrown in 2011 and the first leader to face trial after the Arab Spring uprisings that swept the region, was freed yesterday after six years in detention, his lawyer said.

The 88-year-old was cleared of the final murder charges against him this month, after facing trial in a litany of cases ranging from corruption to the killing of protesters whose 18day revolt stunned the world and ended his 30-year rule. “Yes, he is now in his home

in Heliopolis,” Mubarak’s lawyer, Farid El Deeb, said when asked if Mubarak had left Maadi Military hospital where he had been detained. Heliopolis is a neighbourhood where the main presidential palace from which Mubarak once governed is located.

Mubarak was initially arrested in April 2011, two months after leaving office, and has since been held in prison and in military hospitals under heavy guard. Many Egyptians who lived through his presidency view it as a period of stagnation, autocracy and crony capitalism. – Reuters