Egypt’s top prosecutor has ordered a new investigation into corruption allegations against ousted President Hosni Mubarak, a move that will keep him detained during his upcoming retrial.
The 84-year-old Mubarak is to be detained in custody for 15 days pending investigations conducted by the State Security Prosecution on charges of seizing and facilitating the seizure of public money, Egypt’s state news agency – MENA – reported.
“The Administrative Control Authority said Mubarak abused his powers to take public money, claiming fake contracting work at the presidential palace and instead using the money for their private villas,” MENA stated, according to a translation of the statement by the Egypt Independent newspaper.
The former president’s retrial is scheduled for April 13. He had been previously sentenced Mubarak to 25 years in prison, but he later appealed his sentence and was granted a retrial.
Mubarak was previously sentenced and Adly to 25 years in prison on charges of killing protesters during the 2011 revolution.
Mubarak, his wife and his sons were also scrutinized in the new investigations over money allocated for expenditure on presidential palaces.
While “Egyptian law permits him to only serve up to two years in custody pending trials and investigations,” states MENA, the new charges against Mubarak allow authorities to keep him in custody despite the end of the period of his initial detention.
Mubarak, in detention since April 2011, is currently held in a military hospital due to poor health.
Next week, Mubarak’s is set to appear in court along with his former interior minister, Habib al-Adly.