Cairo: An Egyptian appeals court on Sunday overturned a one-year jail sentence against deposed Islamist president Mohammad Mursi’s former prime minister Hesham Qandil, his lawyer said.
Qandil, seen as a moderate and who was involved in failed talks with the military after Mursi’s overthrow in July last year, was arrested in December while trying to flee the country.
The court’s ruling means he will be released, his lawyer said, as no other cases are pending against him.
“The Court of Cassation accepted Hisham Qandil’s appeal,” Mohammad Salim Al Awa said, calling the latest ruling “a final acquittal”.
“He doesn’t face any other charges in any other cases, and he will be released after all [legal] procedures are completed.”
Qandil was originally sentenced to one year in prison for not carrying out a court order when he was premier to renationalise a private company.
Since Mursi’s ouster, a government crackdown on his supporters has killed 1,400 people in street clashes and imprisoned 15,000 Islamists and protesters.
At least 200 people have been sentenced to death in speedy mass trials, including Mohammad Badie, the leader of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement.
The authorities have been repeatedly accused of using the judiciary as a tool of repression, with Mursi and the top Brotherhood leadership being detained and also put on trial in several cases.
Mursi himself is currently on trial in three separate cases, with a fourth yet to come to court.
