Mubarak sits inside a cage in a courtroom
Mubarak sits inside a cage in a courtroomAFP photo

Hosni Mubarak is likely to be released from prison this week, attorneys for the former Egyptian president said Monday.

Farid a-Dib, Mubarak's chief attorney when he was sentenced to life in prison by a court after he was thrown out of office by the Egyptian Army in 2011. A-Dib said that the new government of Egypt had decided that there was no reason to keep Mubarak in prison after he was cleared of corruption charges.

The New York Times on Monday quoted Egyptian security sources as confirming the story. It is not clear where the 85 year old Mubarak will go when he is released.

According to Egyptian law, Mubarak should have been released months ago after he was given a retrial, with no new charges filed against him on charges that he deliberately caused the deaths of protestors against his presidency. The prosecution has postponed bringing Mubarak to trial on those charges, as it attempts to gather evidence, and last winter an Egyptian court ruled that he could be released until that case was ready.

However, the court decided to keep Mubarak in prison after a new indictment was filed against him on corruption charges last April. Those charges have been dismissed, and as a result Mubarak is set to be released, a-Dib said.

Mubarak is being held in a prison south of Cairo, ironically in a facility in which members of the Muslim Brotherhood who were officials in the government of Mohammed Morsi – Mubarak's replacement – are also being held. Morsi himself is not being held at the facility, however.