Cairo prosecutors appealed on Wednesday the decision by the Court of Cassation to release from prison the two sons of Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak, demanding their return to prison to complete their sentence.

According to an informed source from the prosecution, Alaa and Gamal Mubarak could be made to serve the remaining eight months of their three-year sentence, which they received after being convicted on graft charges in the so-called "presidential palaces case."

Earlier this month, the court said that the two had already served their jail terms when taking into account time served during pre-trial detention.

However, the source said that the time served by Gamal and Alaa was for rulings in cases unrelated to the presidential palaces case, and therefore does not count towards the sentence in this case.

The appeal by former president Mubarak – who was moved to the Maadi Military Hospital for health reasons – and his sons against the conviction for embezzling public funds was rejected earlier this month.

Mubarak is the first Egyptian president to be convicted of corruption, as the court ruling upholding his conviction cannot be further challenged.

The Mubaraks were found guilty of embezzling LE125 million in public funds originally allocated for the upkeep of presidential buildings.

In an initial verdict in May 2014, the trio were fined a total of LE125 million and required to pay an additional LE21 million to the state.

At the time, Mubarak received a three-year prison sentence in the case while his sons both received four years, which was reduced to three years on appeal.

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