CAIRO — Former President Hosni Mubarak sat up, waved, and even smirked as he appeared at a hearing Saturday to open his retrial on charges related to the killing of protesters at the end of his rule....
The postponement was not unexpected; procedural delays for one reason or another are com mon in Egyptian trials.
That left Egyptians puzzled by Mubarak’s demeanor. Many suggested that he appeared to be displaying a new confidence in his case or perhaps a gloating about the state of the country since his ouster....
Magda Boutros, the criminal justice reform director at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said, ‘‘His supporters today probably give him much more of a sense that he was right from the start to threaten that it was either him or chaos, which is more or less what we are seeing now.’’
Ah, the good old days.
Ah, the good old days.
***************************
When the judge recused himself, chaos erupted briefly in the courtroom as advocates for civilians killed during the revolution shouted for revenge. ‘‘The people want the execution of the ousted!’’ they chanted. But the protest was tame compared with the courtroom uproar of his original trial, and the crowds of supporters and opponents outside the courthouse were much smaller, too.
Mubarak is expected to remain in custody while the courts seek a new judge, which could take months. And when the retrial begins, it is expected to last for months after that. If he and his sons are acquitted, they might not walk free.
A new public prosecutor appointed by President Mohammed Morsi has filed more corruption charges that may keep the Mubaraks in custody.
Still, some said they were outraged by Mubarak’s evident satisfaction at the direction his trial and his country are taking. ‘‘Mubarak, the swindler,’’ Abdel Wahed Ashour, editing director of the state news agency, wrote in a Twitter post, accusing him of ‘‘impudence’’ and ‘‘acting as if he is still president.’’
--more--"
"Mubarak remains jailed despite order
CAIRO — A court Saturday ordered the release of Egypt’s deposed President Hosni Mubarak, pending further investigation into corruption charges, but he will continue to be imprisoned on two other corruption cases. Mubarak has been in detention since 2011 and is in Tora prison in Cairo (AP)."
Related:
"Panel says Hosni Mubarak watched unrest" by Sarah El Deeb | Associated Press, January 03, 2013
CAIRO — An Egyptian fact-finding mission determined that Hosni Mubarak watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed at his palace, despite his later denial that he knew the extent of the protests and crackdown against them, a member of the mission said Wednesday.
The mission’s findings increase pressure for a retrial of the 84-year-old ousted president, who is already serving a life sentence for the deaths of 900 protesters. But its report could hold both political gains and dangers for his successor, Mohammed Morsi.
A new prosecution of Mubarak would be popular, since many Egyptians were angered that he was convicted only for failing to stop the killing of protesters, rather than for ordering the crackdown.
But the report also implicates the military and security officials in protester deaths. Any move to prosecute them could spark a backlash from powerful generals and others who still hold positions under Morsi’s government.
Rights activists said they would watch carefully how aggressively Morsi pursues the evidence, detailed by a fact-finding mission he commissioned.
‘‘This report should be part of the democratic transformation of Egypt and restructuring of security agencies,’’ said Ahmed Ragheb, a member of the commission and a rights lawyer. ‘‘At the end of the day, there will be no national reconciliation without revealing the truth, and ensuring accountability.’’
**************
Morsi recently appointed chief prosecutor Talaat Abdullah to replace a Mubarak holdover who many considered an obstacle to strongly prosecuting former regime officials. Some judges criticized the appointment as a political move to continue to wield leverage over the prosecutor post.
The case will test whether Abdullah will conduct a thorough process of holding officials responsible. Some rights activists were already disappointed that Morsi did not empower the fact-finding commission itself to turn the investigations into prosecutions and avoid political influence.
The 700-page report on protester deaths during the past two years was submitted Wednesday to Morsi by the commission, made up of judges, rights lawyers, and representatives from the Interior Ministry and intelligence, as well as families of victims.
Morsi formed the commission soon after coming to office in June as Egypt’s first freely elected president after campaign promises to order retrials of former regime figures if new evidence was revealed.
The trial of Mubarak and other figures from his regime left the public deeply unconvinced justice was done. The prosecution was limited in scope, focusing only on the first few days of the 18-day uprising and on two narrow corruption cases. Lawyers have since criticized the case as shoddy, based primarily on evidence collected by widely hated police in the days following the uprising.
In the verdicts last summer, Mubarak and his two sons were acquitted on corruption charges. His former interior minister was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for complicity in the crackdown, while six top security aides were acquitted for lack of evidence.
Mubarak was convicted of failing to prevent the deaths of protesters during the uprising, which ended with his fall Feb. 11, 2011. He was sentenced to life in prison. Many Egyptians believed he should have been held responsible for ordering the killings, in addition to corruption, police abuse, and political wrongdoing under his regime.
One key new finding by the panel was that Mubarak closely monitored the crackdown....
--more--"
"Egyptian court orders new trial for former dictator" by David D. Kirkpatrick | New York Times, January 14, 2013
CAIRO — Sunday’s appeals court decision may also put the issue of retribution for Mubarak and his inner circle back in the news just as a campaign begins for new parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for April.
The decision may bolster the prospects of the Islamist party of President Mohammed Morsi, who campaigned for president last year on a pledge to seek a retrial of Mubarak, capitalizing on anger over the weak conviction shortly after it was released. Even as his opponents had begun collaborating with former members of Mubarak’s old party, Morsi has made legal action against leaders of the former government a priority, sometimes suggesting that corrupt former colleagues of Mubarak were behind a conspiracy to disrupt the transition to democracy.
It's called controlled-opposition sponsored by AmeriKa.
A ruling that overturned Mubarak’s conviction had been considered likely since his conviction last year. The trial’s presiding judge criticized the prosecution’s case, saying it lacked concrete evidence and that nothing in what was presented to the court proved that the protesters were killed by the police.
Perhaps in anticipation of the appeals court decision, prosecutors on Saturday ordered that Mubarak be detained for an additional period because of a new investigation they had started into personal gifts he received from Al Ahram, the state media organization that publishes a newspaper of the same name. Now under new management, Al Ahram reported Saturday that Mubarak was under questioning about gifts including gold pens, designer neckties, leather bags, shoes, gold jewelry, and expensive watches that the media organization gave him between 2006 and 2011 as demonstrations of loyalty.
Earlier this month, a presidential fact-finding committee presented a report to Morsi that accused Mubarak of having far more direct awareness of the violence against the protesters than previously disclosed.
The website of the Information Ministry last week, citing unnamed sources familiar with the commission’s conclusions, reported that it found that Mubarak had watched the brutal tactics of his security forces in the streets over a special television monitor in his office and also received ‘‘firsthand reports.’’
--more--"
Also see:AmeriKan Media Eulogizes Egyptian Mubarak
I thought he was dying.
UPDATE:
"Newspaper claims first Mubarak interview since detention" Associated Press, May 13, 2013
CAIRO — In his first comments to the media since he was detained more than two years ago, Egypt’s ousted leader, Hosni Mubarak, said he is dismayed at the country’s state of affairs and particularly the plight of the poor.
After he did so much to create it and them?
The 85-year old Mubarak also warned against a much-negotiated loan from the International Monetary Fund, saying it would make life harder for the poor in Egypt, where over 40 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
Yeah, he can say that now that he is out of power.
The authenticity of the interview could not be immediately verified. Calls to Mubarak’s lawyer Farid ElDeeb went unanswered, but he was quoted as telling Ahram Online, the electronic version of the state-owned Al-Ahram, that the interview was a ‘‘fabrication.’’
Al-Watan’s reporter, Mohammed el-Sheik, took photos of himself near and inside Mubarak’s medical helicopter, without the ex-leader inside. Sheik said he conducted the interview after sneaking into a waiting area where Mubarak was held during his trial Saturday, apparently before the hearing began....
In his comments to the privately owned Egyptian paper, Mubarak appeared to be gloating....
Screw the trial, hang him now.
--more--"
"Mubarak remains jailed despite order
CAIRO — A court Saturday ordered the release of Egypt’s deposed President Hosni Mubarak, pending further investigation into corruption charges, but he will continue to be imprisoned on two other corruption cases. Mubarak has been in detention since 2011 and is in Tora prison in Cairo (AP)."
Related:
"Panel says Hosni Mubarak watched unrest" by Sarah El Deeb | Associated Press, January 03, 2013
CAIRO — An Egyptian fact-finding mission determined that Hosni Mubarak watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed at his palace, despite his later denial that he knew the extent of the protests and crackdown against them, a member of the mission said Wednesday.
The mission’s findings increase pressure for a retrial of the 84-year-old ousted president, who is already serving a life sentence for the deaths of 900 protesters. But its report could hold both political gains and dangers for his successor, Mohammed Morsi.
A new prosecution of Mubarak would be popular, since many Egyptians were angered that he was convicted only for failing to stop the killing of protesters, rather than for ordering the crackdown.
But the report also implicates the military and security officials in protester deaths. Any move to prosecute them could spark a backlash from powerful generals and others who still hold positions under Morsi’s government.
Rights activists said they would watch carefully how aggressively Morsi pursues the evidence, detailed by a fact-finding mission he commissioned.
‘‘This report should be part of the democratic transformation of Egypt and restructuring of security agencies,’’ said Ahmed Ragheb, a member of the commission and a rights lawyer. ‘‘At the end of the day, there will be no national reconciliation without revealing the truth, and ensuring accountability.’’
**************
Morsi recently appointed chief prosecutor Talaat Abdullah to replace a Mubarak holdover who many considered an obstacle to strongly prosecuting former regime officials. Some judges criticized the appointment as a political move to continue to wield leverage over the prosecutor post.
The case will test whether Abdullah will conduct a thorough process of holding officials responsible. Some rights activists were already disappointed that Morsi did not empower the fact-finding commission itself to turn the investigations into prosecutions and avoid political influence.
The 700-page report on protester deaths during the past two years was submitted Wednesday to Morsi by the commission, made up of judges, rights lawyers, and representatives from the Interior Ministry and intelligence, as well as families of victims.
Morsi formed the commission soon after coming to office in June as Egypt’s first freely elected president after campaign promises to order retrials of former regime figures if new evidence was revealed.
The trial of Mubarak and other figures from his regime left the public deeply unconvinced justice was done. The prosecution was limited in scope, focusing only on the first few days of the 18-day uprising and on two narrow corruption cases. Lawyers have since criticized the case as shoddy, based primarily on evidence collected by widely hated police in the days following the uprising.
In the verdicts last summer, Mubarak and his two sons were acquitted on corruption charges. His former interior minister was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for complicity in the crackdown, while six top security aides were acquitted for lack of evidence.
Mubarak was convicted of failing to prevent the deaths of protesters during the uprising, which ended with his fall Feb. 11, 2011. He was sentenced to life in prison. Many Egyptians believed he should have been held responsible for ordering the killings, in addition to corruption, police abuse, and political wrongdoing under his regime.
One key new finding by the panel was that Mubarak closely monitored the crackdown....
--more--"
"Egyptian court orders new trial for former dictator" by David D. Kirkpatrick | New York Times, January 14, 2013
CAIRO — Sunday’s appeals court decision may also put the issue of retribution for Mubarak and his inner circle back in the news just as a campaign begins for new parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for April.
The decision may bolster the prospects of the Islamist party of President Mohammed Morsi, who campaigned for president last year on a pledge to seek a retrial of Mubarak, capitalizing on anger over the weak conviction shortly after it was released. Even as his opponents had begun collaborating with former members of Mubarak’s old party, Morsi has made legal action against leaders of the former government a priority, sometimes suggesting that corrupt former colleagues of Mubarak were behind a conspiracy to disrupt the transition to democracy.
It's called controlled-opposition sponsored by AmeriKa.
A ruling that overturned Mubarak’s conviction had been considered likely since his conviction last year. The trial’s presiding judge criticized the prosecution’s case, saying it lacked concrete evidence and that nothing in what was presented to the court proved that the protesters were killed by the police.
Perhaps in anticipation of the appeals court decision, prosecutors on Saturday ordered that Mubarak be detained for an additional period because of a new investigation they had started into personal gifts he received from Al Ahram, the state media organization that publishes a newspaper of the same name. Now under new management, Al Ahram reported Saturday that Mubarak was under questioning about gifts including gold pens, designer neckties, leather bags, shoes, gold jewelry, and expensive watches that the media organization gave him between 2006 and 2011 as demonstrations of loyalty.
Earlier this month, a presidential fact-finding committee presented a report to Morsi that accused Mubarak of having far more direct awareness of the violence against the protesters than previously disclosed.
The website of the Information Ministry last week, citing unnamed sources familiar with the commission’s conclusions, reported that it found that Mubarak had watched the brutal tactics of his security forces in the streets over a special television monitor in his office and also received ‘‘firsthand reports.’’
--more--"
Also see:AmeriKan Media Eulogizes Egyptian Mubarak
I thought he was dying.
UPDATE:
"Newspaper claims first Mubarak interview since detention" Associated Press, May 13, 2013
CAIRO — In his first comments to the media since he was detained more than two years ago, Egypt’s ousted leader, Hosni Mubarak, said he is dismayed at the country’s state of affairs and particularly the plight of the poor.
After he did so much to create it and them?
The 85-year old Mubarak also warned against a much-negotiated loan from the International Monetary Fund, saying it would make life harder for the poor in Egypt, where over 40 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
Yeah, he can say that now that he is out of power.
The authenticity of the interview could not be immediately verified. Calls to Mubarak’s lawyer Farid ElDeeb went unanswered, but he was quoted as telling Ahram Online, the electronic version of the state-owned Al-Ahram, that the interview was a ‘‘fabrication.’’
Al-Watan’s reporter, Mohammed el-Sheik, took photos of himself near and inside Mubarak’s medical helicopter, without the ex-leader inside. Sheik said he conducted the interview after sneaking into a waiting area where Mubarak was held during his trial Saturday, apparently before the hearing began....
In his comments to the privately owned Egyptian paper, Mubarak appeared to be gloating....
Screw the trial, hang him now.
--more--"
