Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Following a court’s decision on Saturday to drop charges holding former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak responsible for the death of protesters in Egypt’s 2011 revolution, one of his lawyers has revealed the ex-president remains in custody because he is refusing to pay a fine relating to a separate case against him.

In addition to facing charges over the ordering of the killing of protesters, Mubarak was also convicted in May of misusing public funds during his 30-year presidency, over which he is currently facing a three-year jail sentence.

A judicial source speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday had said the former president could soon be released, however, because he had already been remanded in custody for two years before being charged—during the period from April 2011 to April 2013—and so the court would take into account his having already served more than three-quarters of his sentence.

But Yusri Abdel Raziq, one of his lawyers, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday the former president was “awaiting the date of his appeal in the case, which is due on January 13,” because he was refusing to pay a fine of 120 million Egyptian pounds (16 million US dollars) associated with the conviction.

He added that if the court accepted the appeal in January, Mubarak would “finally be released.”

Mubarak was initially imprisoned in Cairo’s Torah prison in 2011, but was later moved to a military hospital in Cairo’s Maadi suburb due to ill health. He has remained there since then.

Saturday’s verdict resulted in jubilant celebrations among the ex-president’s supporters outside the hospital and the Police Academy in Cairo where he was being tried.

Following the announcement, two people were killed and nine injured in clashes between protesters and security forces near Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Egyptian presidency released a statement calling for all to respect the court’s decision. It said Egypt’s current president, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, had watched the trial closely, and that the country was continuing on its course “toward establishing a modern democratic state” and that it would “never go back to the past.”

Sawsan Abu Hussain contributed additional reporting.