CAIRO, Mar 25 (Aswat Masriya) - Former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly was released from Tora prison on Wednesday after spending over four years in prison, state new agency MENA reported. 

A high level security source was cited by the state agency as saying that Adly's release comes after the prison authority was handed paperwork from the prosecution on the legality of his release. 

The former interior minister was taken into custody days after the removal of former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and has since faced a total of four trials.

Of the four trials, Adly has only been served a ratified sentence in one. He was handed a three year sentence, which was upheld in February 2014, for exploiting conscripts by tasking them with carrying out work for him in his home.

Essam al-Batawi, Adly's lawyer, had earlier told Aswat Masriya that his client has already served his three-year prison sentence, which could see his release from custody if the court acquits him in one more case. 

Last week, a Giza court acquitted him of graft charges amounting to 181 million Egyptian pounds, paving the way for his release.

Like several of Mubarak's top officials, Adly faced several charges after Mubarak's removal in February 2011.

Last November, the former minister was acquitted of charges of inciting and aiding the killing of protesters, in a trial that included Mubarak.