Cairo — Egypt’s ex-president Hosni Mubarak was released from jail Thursday, Aug. 22, after a court ordered him freed, pending trial.

Mubarak was taken from Cairo’s Tora prison by helicopter to a military hospital in southern Cairo, where he is to remain under house arrest.

Members of the April 6 Youth Movement and activists wear Mubarak and Mursi (R) masks while playing as victims of the recent violence in Egypt as they protest former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s release from prison, along Qasr Al Nil bridge, which leads to Tahrir Square, in Cairo August 22, 2013. Mubarak was flown from jail on Thursday in a symbolic victory for an army-dominated old order that has overthrown and imprisoned his freely elected Islamist successor. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

On Aug. 21, a court said Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt for 30 years, could be granted conditional release, pending trial in three cases against him.

But the government said it would place the 85-year-old under house arrest after his release, on the basis of Egypt’s current state of emergency.

The former strongman will not be allowed to leave Egypt and his assets remain frozen.

Mubarak still faces charges of corruption and complicity in the death of protesters in the 2011 uprising.

Last year, Mubarak was convicted on the complicity and corruption charges and sentenced to life in prison.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s army-backed authorities detained Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie on Tuesday, Aug. 20, in a move that signals their determination to crush the group.

The arrest of Badie, 70, followed the bloody suppression of rallies, demanding the reinstatement of President Mohamed Morsi, who was toppled by the military last month.Badie is charged with inciting the murder of anti-Muslim Brotherhood protesters earlier this year.