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An Egyptian court sentenced former president Hosni Mubarak to three years imprisonment Saturday.
The former dictator and his two sons Gamal and Alaa have no option for parole, along with a US$16 million fine. It was unclear whether the sentence included the time Mubarak has already served since being ousted in 2011.
The sentences were all related to embezzlement charges dating back to Mubarak's time in office, when he was accused of diverting public funds to pay for renovations to his family home. He had previously been sentenced to the same term of imprisonment for the same charges, but the conviction was overturned on appeal, and a retrial ordered. Since the original conviction, prosecutors have shed charges related to allegations Mubarak was complicit in the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising. In 2012 those charges landed him a now overturned life sentence.
Critics of Egypt's new military-dominated government have accused prosecutors of being soft on Mubarak, who ruled the country for three decades with an iron fist. During Saturday's ruling, Judge Ahmed Rifaat described Mubarak's rule as “30 years of darkness,” that only ended when the people of Egypt rose up against him in 2011.
“They peacefully demanded democracy from rulers who held a tight grip on power,” the judge stated.
Since that uprising, Egypt's first democratically elected leader, Mohamed Morsi, has been overthrown in a coup led by the current president Abdel Fattah Sisi. In April Morsi was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for charges of violence and intimidation. Critics of Sisi's government argue the sentence was politically motivated.
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