<p>Egypt's defiant strongman Hosni Mubarak, cleared of murder and corruption charges in a retrial, has asserted that he "did nothing wrong" during his nearly 30-year reign.<br /><br />"I did nothing wrong at all," the 86-year-old ousted president said in a telephone interview with a private television channel yesterday, soon after a court dismissed a murder charge against him over a deadly crackdown on protesters in 2011.<br /><br />"I laughed when I heard the first verdict," he said of the first trial and the 2012 sentencing. "When it came to the second verdict, I said I was waiting. It would go either way. It wouldn't have made a difference to me either way," Mubarak told the Sada ElBalad TV station from the military hospital where he is serving a three-year sentence for corruption.<br /><br />He praised his 30-year rule before his overthrow in a popular uprising in 2011.<br />Apparently referring to economic growth in Egypt, he said: "The last 10 years showed more results than the 20 years before, including telephones and so on, and then they turned against us."<br /><br />The court also dismissed separate corruption charges against the former autocrat, in a retrial held after an initial life sentence was overturned on a technicality.<br /><br />Mubarak was convicted in 2012 of issuing orders to kill peaceful protesters during the country's 2011 uprising and was sentenced to life in prison. He appealed and was granted a new trial last year.<br /><br />Also acquitted yesterday were Mubarak's former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly and six of el-Adly's aides, who had been accused of being linked to the deaths of 239 protesters as security forces cracked down on them in 2011.</p>.<p>Mubarak's two sons Alaa and Gamal also were acquitted Saturday of corruption.<br />Mubarak still has a three-year sentence for a previous conviction for embezzlement, but it was not immediately clear how much time he has already been credited with, and therefore when he will be free.<br /><br />Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat has said the government will appeal the verdict, Egypt's government-controlled Al- Ahram newspaper website reported today.</p>
<p>Egypt's defiant strongman Hosni Mubarak, cleared of murder and corruption charges in a retrial, has asserted that he "did nothing wrong" during his nearly 30-year reign.<br /><br />"I did nothing wrong at all," the 86-year-old ousted president said in a telephone interview with a private television channel yesterday, soon after a court dismissed a murder charge against him over a deadly crackdown on protesters in 2011.<br /><br />"I laughed when I heard the first verdict," he said of the first trial and the 2012 sentencing. "When it came to the second verdict, I said I was waiting. It would go either way. It wouldn't have made a difference to me either way," Mubarak told the Sada ElBalad TV station from the military hospital where he is serving a three-year sentence for corruption.<br /><br />He praised his 30-year rule before his overthrow in a popular uprising in 2011.<br />Apparently referring to economic growth in Egypt, he said: "The last 10 years showed more results than the 20 years before, including telephones and so on, and then they turned against us."<br /><br />The court also dismissed separate corruption charges against the former autocrat, in a retrial held after an initial life sentence was overturned on a technicality.<br /><br />Mubarak was convicted in 2012 of issuing orders to kill peaceful protesters during the country's 2011 uprising and was sentenced to life in prison. He appealed and was granted a new trial last year.<br /><br />Also acquitted yesterday were Mubarak's former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly and six of el-Adly's aides, who had been accused of being linked to the deaths of 239 protesters as security forces cracked down on them in 2011.</p>.<p>Mubarak's two sons Alaa and Gamal also were acquitted Saturday of corruption.<br />Mubarak still has a three-year sentence for a previous conviction for embezzlement, but it was not immediately clear how much time he has already been credited with, and therefore when he will be free.<br /><br />Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat has said the government will appeal the verdict, Egypt's government-controlled Al- Ahram newspaper website reported today.</p>