On Thursday, the Cairo Criminal Court released Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, on an EGP 1m bail. The two had been charged illicit financial gain.

However, the Mubarak sons will remain in custody, to serve a four-year prison sentence for embezzlement.

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak had appealed the Illicit Gains’ Authority’s decision to keep them in preventative detention pending their investigation, reported state-run news agency MENA. They are being investigated for abusing their father’s influence as president, to amass wealth beyond  their legitimate sources of income.

On 21 May, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced the two men  to four years in a maximum security prison, whilst the ousted president was sentenced to three years. The three were charged with acquiring nearly EGP 126m from the presidential palace budget and using the money for the construction and development of family-owned properties.

Last December,  the Cairo Criminal court acquitted the brothers, as well as Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak’s last prime minister, in a case in which they were facing charges of misuse of public funds. They were accused of selling 40,000 square metres of land below market prices to former regime officials through the Pilots Land Association.

Alaa and Gamal are also being tried for involvement in the killing of protesters during the 25 January Revolution, alongside their father and former Interior Minister, Habib Al-Adly.