Hosni Mubarak Gets Retrial Over Deaths

Hosni Mubarak was handed a life sentence last June
 The ex-president, who is serving a life sentence, wins a retrial over the deaths of protesters during the uprising of 2011.

Bloody clashes gripped Egypt in early 2011

Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has won an appeal over his life sentence for failing to prevent the deaths of hundreds of protesters.

The 84-year-old was convicted and jailed in June last year after some 900 protesters lost their lives in the 2011 uprising that toppled his 29-year regime.

He, and his former security chief Habib al Adli, who is also serving a life sentence on the same charges, will be retried.

The reasoning for the decision was not explained by the court, but it was met with cheers from Mubarak supporters at the building.

Mubarak, who appeared in the dock on a stretcher during his trial, was moved to a Cairo hospital last month after slipping in a prison bathroom.

His health has deteriorated since he was jailed. The state news agency reported him clinically dead at one point as he slipped into a coma following a stroke.

He recovered, but was reportedly deeply depressed by the election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi as president.

Mohamed Abdel Razek, one of the former leader's lawyers, said: "The retrial will be based on the same evidence used in the previous trial. No new evidence will be added to the case."

He added that the new panel of judges could consider Mubarak's health when issuing a verdict.

No dates have been set for any of the retrials. Mubarak remains in custody.

Mubarak's two sons, Gamal and Alaa, are in prison while on trial for alleged insider trading and using their influence to buy state land at a fraction of its market price.

The pair were acquitted of corruption charges in the same case as their father - but will be retried after Judge Abdel Rahman accepted an appeal by prosecutors against the not guilty verdicts.