Former Egyptian president's sons acquitted of fraudulent charges

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of ex-Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, have been acquitted of all charges relating to illicit share trading, dating back to the sale of Al Watany Bank of Egypt in 2007.

According to reports from Egypt Independent News, the Cairo criminal court also cleared 6 other defendants in the case on Saturday acquitted.

The charges pertained to accusations that the two sons had manipulated the stock exchange and squandered public funds, as well as accusations that they had illegally profited, along with seven other defendants, from the sale of the Al Watany Bank of Egypt to the National Bank of Kuwait in 2007.

“Despite threats and (the) harassment he was subjected to, he stood beside us, defending the family,” Alaa Mubarak wrote in a post on Twitter.

President Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising. Mubarak stepped down after 18 days of demonstrations during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Mubarak was detained in a military hospital and his sons were freed 12 October 2015 by a Cairo court. He was acquitted on 2 March 2017 by the Court of Cassation and released on 24 March 2017.