Convictions upheld of former leader Mubarak, 2 sons

CAIRO — Egypt’s highest appeals court rejected a motion Saturday by former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons to overturn their conviction on corruption charges.

The ruling by the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s final recourse for appeals in criminal cases, dashed any hope that Gamal, Mubarak’s younger son and onetime heir apparent, could run for public office. A senior newspaper editor and confidant of Egypt’s current president had recently suggested that banker-turned-politician Gamal may have been contemplating the move.

The Mubarak trio was sentenced to three years each for embezzling funds meant for maintenance of presidential palaces but which they spent on upgrading or building private residences. The sons were released in 2015 for time served, while their father was freed last year. They repaid the funds, a total of about $7 million.

Mubarak’s sons are on trial for insider trading. They are free on bail after a judge on Thursday overturned a surprise Sept. 15 ruling to detain them. The case’s next hearing is on Oct. 20.

The rejection of their appeal Saturday and Gamal Mubarak’s subsequent ineligibility to run for office came in the wake of recent comments by the chief editor of state-run Al-Akhbar publications, Yasser Rizq, who suggested that frequent public appearances by the younger Mubarak could be a prelude to a future presidential run.

Rizq first warned Gamal Mubarak against harboring presidential ambitions in an article published in May. He repeated the warning in a television interview aired last week.

“His real crime is insulting the dignity of the Egyptian people,” Rizq said, alluding to Gamal’s onetime intention to succeed his father. It violated the constitution and amounted to the toppling of republican rule, he explained.

Preventing Gamal from succeeding his father was among the main drivers of a 2011 uprising that ended Mubarak’s 29-year rule, as well as the military’s support for it. The years that followed saw Mubarak governmental heavyweights tried on corruption or abuse of power charges. Most have since walked free, while second-string loyalists found their way back to public life under current President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Hamza Hendawi is an Associated Press writer.