File photo: This video image taken from Egyptian State Television shows former Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, right, in a cage of mesh and iron bars during his trial in a Cairo courtroom Thursday Aug. 4, 2011. (Photo: AP)
Egypt’s Court of Cassation on Sunday overturned the guilty verdict of former minister of interior Habib El-Adly on charges of money laundering and profiteering, ordering a retrial.
El-Adly was handed a 12-year sentence in May 2011 for corruption charges related to using his senior position to gain profits.
In January, the same court ordered a retrial of ousted president Hosni Mubarak and El-Adly on charges of failing to prevent the killing of protestors during the January 25 revolution.
The retrial was ordered after the appellate court accepted appeals lodged by the two former regime figures.
Last June, Mubarak and El-Adly, who was minister of interior at the time of the 2011 uprising, were sentenced to life in prison as a result of the conviction, while six high-ranking security officials were acquitted in the same case, sparking nationwide outrage.
The former minister remains in prison, where he is serving another five year sentence on charges of squandering public funds in the 'number plates' case, when a contract was signed with a German company to provide number plates for state vehicles at above market prices.
Official documents obtained by Al-Ahram daily newspaper in September 2012 indicated that El-Adly's fortunes stand at around $3 billion, including real estate.
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