CAIRO, Jan 26 (Aswat Masriya) – The sons of toppled president Hosni Mubarak were released from prison on Monday after prosecutors approved their release in the stock market manipulation trial, a security official said.

Gamal and Alaa Mubarak had been handed a release order from court in a separate case on Thursday but were only released on Monday since they were still held pending the stock market manipulation trial, in which they are defendants.

A source at the prison authority said the supreme public funds prosecution issued a letter early on Monday stating that their release is legally correct.

On Sunday, Mohamed al-Kholoussy, director of the prison authority, had said that Mubarak's sons are still in custody since they are facing the charge of manipulating the stock market.

On Thursday, during the retrial of Mubarak and his sons for embezzlement, the Cairo Criminal Court ordered the sons' release. The release comes after they spent behind bars the maximum amount of time that can be spent in preventative detention for the charges they face.     

Since their arrest in April 2011, Gamal and Alaa have been charged in a total of five cases, all charges related to financial corruption.

The official at the prison authority said the authority had already received four letters from prosecutors on the legality of releasing them in four of the trials, ahead of receiving the final letter in the stock manipulation case on Monday.

Their release comes one day after the fourth anniversary of the January 2011 uprising, in which Mubarak was toppled.