Egypt acquits Mubarak-era PM of corruption

Egypt's Court of Cassation acquitted on Wednesday former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif after overturning a previous ruling convicting him of illicit gains of millions of dollars and sentencing him to five years in prison, official MENA news agency reported.

Nazif, who served under former long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak before his ouster in February 2011, was convicted in a retrial in July 2015 of making illicit gains and was ordered to pay in total over 100 million Egyptian pounds (about 11.5 million U.S. dollars) after being sentenced to five years in jail.

The Mubarak-era premier appealed the initial conviction ruling and his acquittal verdict on Wednesday is final and unappealable.

Mubarak and most of his regime officials, including his two sons Gamal and Alaa, were held in custody following the January 2011 uprising, yet they were eventually acquitted in retrials over charges including corruption, illicit gains and responsibility for killing peaceful protesters.

Mubarak's senior security officials were also cleared of responsibility for the killing of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 protests.

Mubarak and his two sons were sentenced to three years in jail earlier in 2015 over corruption, but his sons were released later in October as the term was already served while they were in custody since their arrest in 2011. Endit