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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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| Information | | |
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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29Nov14
Egyptian Court Dismisses Criminal Charges Against Mubarak
An Egyptian court on Saturday dismissed all remaining criminal charges against former President Hosni Mubarak, raising the possibility that Mr. Mubarak could go free for the first time since he was removed from office in the 2011 uprising that defined the Arab Spring.
During earlier hearings in the various proceedings against Mr. Mubarak human rights lawyers demanded harsh punishment for his three decades of brutal autocracy, but Saturday's court session was packed with Mubarak supporters who erupted in cheers at the verdict.
The 86-year-old former leader, who has been held at a military hospital and appeared in court on a stretcher, remained stone-faced as the chief judge, Mahmoud Kamel al-Rashidi, read the verdict. Only then did he allow himself a smile, and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, hugged and kissed him in celebration. Both were acquitted of corruption charges along with their father.
The judge would not elaborate on his reasoning from the bench, insisting that any commentators read at least a 240-page summary of his 1,340-page explanation of the case.
He dismissed the most serious charges: that Mr. Mubarak was responsible for the killing of hundreds of nonviolent demonstrators during the protests that ended his rule. He acquitted him of the corruption charges, which involved allegations that he had sold natural gas to Israel at below-market prices, as well as other allegations Mr. Mubarak and his sons were given vacation homes as kickbacks.
In May, Mr. Mubarak was sentenced to three years in prison in a separate corruption case, involving lavish, government-funded improvements to his and his sons' personal homes. But having spent more than three years in custody on various charges, the former president might now be freed after a determination that he had served the requisite time.
Judge Rashidi declared on Saturday that his verdict "has nothing to do with politics."
Beyond the courtroom, many Egyptians said that the decision reflected the times. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the former general who last year led the military takeover that ousted an elected Islamist government, has consolidated power as Egypt's new strongman and surrounded himself with former Mubarak ministers and advisers.
State-run and pro-government media now routinely denounce the pro-democracy activists who led the 2011 uprising as a "fifth column" out to undermine the state, while the Islamists who dominated the elections are now jailed and denounced as terrorists.
Legal experts said that the charges against Mr. Mubarak were flawed from the start because they were rushed to court to appease public demands for retribution against him after his ouster.
The murder charges for directing police to kill unarmed protesters were difficult to prove because of the many layers in the Egyptian military's chain of command and the broad latitude for self-defense often given to the police. The corruption charges appeared to have been thrown together hastily without a thorough review of the many other allegations that surrounded Mr. Mubarak's 30-year rule.
In an earlier trial for the same charges, a judge found Mr. Mubarak responsible for the killings of the protesters and sentenced him to life in prison. But that judge's verdict appeared to acknowledge a lack of evidence, acquitting those below Mr. Mubarak in the chain of command. That judge also dismissed the corruption charges on technical grounds, and, as expected, an appellate court threw out the verdict and ordered a retrial.
[Source: By David D. Kirkpatrick and Merna Thomas, The New York Times, 29Nov14]
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