Overthrown Egyptian President Mubarak freed from prison after six years

Mubarak at the Maadi Military Hospital in Cairo in 2016 Credit: PA

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president overthrown in 2011, was freed on Friday after six years.

Mubarak, 88, was the first leader to face trial after the Arab Spring uprisings that swept the region.

He left the Maadi Military Hospital in Cairo where he had been detained and headed to his home in Heliopolis.

Mubarak's lawyer, Farid El Deeb, said: "Yes, he is now in his home in Heliopolis."

Heliopolis is an upscale neighbourhood where the main presidential palace from which Mubarak once governed is located.

Thousands of people gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square for the 2011 uprising Credit: Fredrik Persson/AP/Press Association Images

The former leader was cleared of the final murder charges against him this month.

He had faced trial in a litany of cases ranging from corruption to the killing of protesters whose 18-day revolt stunned the world and ended his 30-year rule.

Mubarak was initially arrested in April 2011, two months after leaving office, and has since been held in prison and in military hospitals under heavy guard.