Hosni Mubarak, president of Egypt from 1981 to his ouster in 2011, was freed from detention on Friday.
Mubarak was originally sentenced to life for initiating the assassinations of hundreds of protesters during the peak of the Arab Spring. An estimated 900 died in the fight to remove Mubarak from power, but at the beginning of this month, the highest Egyptian court of appeals detached him from any involvement in the deaths of those protesters, according to al-Jazeera. Mubarak had resided in a military hospital since 2013, where he was sent after making bail.
Current Egyptian President al-Sisi was "reportedly reluctant to free him because of the public backlash that might accompany such a move," as BBC reported.
Meanwhile, some have brought up other concerns from past relationships.
One also wonders whether Mubarak's release will revitalize one of globe's most inspiring international friendships https://t.co/oOBawhD9OG pic.twitter.com/60FvzLPwiH
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 24, 2017