Mubarak retrial scheduled for May 11

Hosni Mubarak

The retrial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, his sons, his interior minister and six of his security aides will start on May 11, a Cairo appeals court decided Wednesday, according to a state-run news agency.

Mubarak and his former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison last year on charges that they were complicit in the killing of protesters during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

They were granted a retrial after filing an appeal.

The six security aides last year were acquitted of the same charges, and Mubarak's two sons -- Gamal and Alaa -- were acquitted of corruption charges. But they, too, were ordered to be retried after President Mohamed Morsy ordered a new investigation last year.

The retrial was to begin last weekend, but a judge recused himself from the case, prompting a delay.

Also Wednesday, a public prosecutor decided to send Hosni Mubarak -- who has spent the last few months detained in a military hospital -- back to prison, prosecutor spokesman Mahmoud Hefnawi told the state-run al-Ahram newspaper.

Hefnawi said the prosecutor reviewed a report of Mubarak's health and determined that he is fit to return to prison, the newspaper reported.

Mubarak has been held since his guilty verdict last year.

Mubarak also is charged with seizing public funds and misusing political influence. He also faces a corruption charge that was not part of the original trial. Mubarak is accused of selling natural gas to neighboring Israel for prices below fair market value.

Category: AFRICA, Mubarak retrial scheduled for May 11