Mubarak Moved To Prison From Hospital; Retrial To Start On May 11

Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak was transferred back to prison from an army hospital on Thursday after he appeared fitter at an adjourned retrial in Cairo late last week, state news agency reported.

Mubarak's transfer from the hospital was delayed because hundreds of supporters had blocked the road in front of the hospital late on Wednesday protesting the decision, state news agency MENA stated.

Mubarak’s retrial will start again on May 11, a Cairo appeals court said on Wednesday.

A retrial scheduled on April 13 was aborted after the presiding judge withdrew from the case and referred it to another court.

Mubarak was granted a retrial earlier this year after his appeal against his life sentence for the death of protesters killed by government forces was accepted.

The former Egyptian leader was sentenced to life in prison on June 2 last year by a court that held them responsible for the deaths of protesters killed by security forces trying to quell an uprising that subsequently overthrew his government.

About 850 people were killed in the 2011 crackdown, according to a BBC report.

Former Interior Minister Habib Al-Adli and two sons of Mubarak were also granted retrial facing the same charges as before.

In January, Mohamed Abdel Razek, one of Mubarak's lawyers, told Reuters the retrial would be based on the same evidence used in the previous trial.

On Monday, Mubarak’s lawyer successfully argued that he had spent the maximum time in prison under temporary detention, leading to a court ruling that he could no longer be held in prison on charges related to the killings of protesters, the BBC report said.

However, he remains in custody on separate charges relating to corruption while in office. Mubarak, 84, had been in a military hospital after he hurt his head in a fall in his prison bathroom in December. He has suffered a range of illnesses since his ouster in February 2011.