Egypt court orders retrial in Mubarak embezzlement case

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak waves to his supporters from his stretcher as he returns to Maadi military hospital in Cairo Nov 29, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

CAIRO - An Egyptian court ordered on Tuesday a retrial in an embezzlement case against Hosni Mubarak, dropping the only remaining conviction faced by the ousted former president and potentially leading to his release.

Mubarak was sentenced to three years in jail in May for stealing public funds to renovate family properties. He has been serving that sentence in a military hospital in Cairo.

Now a retrial has been ordered, judicial sources say Mubarak could walk free as no convictions against him remain.

In November, another court dropped charges against Mubarak for conspiring to kill protesters in the 2011 uprising that removed him from power and cleared him in two graft cases. It was not clear if Mubarak would remain in detention pending retrials.