Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was on Wednesday sentenced to three years in prison by a criminal court here for embezzling millions of dollars of public funds, three years after the 86-year-old former strongman was toppled following a popular uprising.
His two sons, 53-year-old Alaa Mubarak and 50-year-old Gamal Mubarak were also convicted and given four-year terms for embezzling USD 17.9 million of funds earmarked for the renovation of presidential palaces.“The court orders Mohamed Hosni Mubarak to be sent to jail for three years,” judge Osama Shaheen said as Mubarak sat in the caged dock in a wheelchair, wearing a grey suit, looking sombre but alert. His sons stood beside him in white prison uniforms.
“He gave himself and his sons the freedom to take from public funds whatever they wanted to without oversight and without regard,” the judge said.The trio denied the charge and asserted at the trial that the prosecution’s case was “completely unsubstantiated because it never happened”.