[JURIST] The Egypt Court of Cassation [official website, in Arabic] on Thursday acquitted [Reuters report] former president Hosni Mubarak [BBC profile] in a retrial of charges that he killed protesters during the civil uprising in 2011 that ended his 30-year reign. Mubarak was initially convicted on these charges and sentenced to life in prison in 2012. But Mubarak strenuously maintained his innocence over the years, and an appeals court later ordered a retrial that ultimately brought the case to the Cassation Court. The retrial was postponed [JURIST report] in November as it was moved from the High Court building in Cairo to a different location. The Court rejected demands from lawyers for the victims and their families to initiate to reopen civil suits, which would mean that any remaining option for appeal or retrial is now closed.

Mubarak and other members of his administration have been consistently involved in some form of judicial proceeding since the Egyptian Revolution [JURIST backgrounder]. In October 2015 another Egypt court ordered [JURIST report] the release of Mubarak’s sons, Gamal and Alaa Mubarak, after holding that they have completed their three-year prison sentences for embezzlement. In January 2015 a court in Egypt overturned [JURIST report] the May 2014 convictions of Mubarak on embezzlement charges and ordered a retrial. In December 2013 an Egypt court acquitted [JURIST report] former prime minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq and Alaa and Gamal Mubarak of charges of embezzling public funds.