From iron fist to iron bars, Mubarak goes on trial at last
Photo/AFP/FILE
Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak and wife Suzanne attending the final football match of the African Nations Cup (CAN) in Cairo. Mubarak, 83, is due to appear in court at the Cairo Police Academy along with his two sons Alaa and Gamal.
Cairo, Monday
Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, whose spectacular downfall sent shockwaves across the region, faces trial tomorrow on charges of murder and corruption that could see him sent to the gallows.
Mubarak, 83, is due to appear in court at the Cairo Police Academy along with his two sons Alaa and Gamal, former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six security chiefs.
Businessman Hussein Salem, a close associate of the Mubaraks, is being tried in absentia in the same case.
They are all accused of stealing millions of dollars from the state and ordering the killing of over 800 protesters during the January 25 uprising that brought down their regime.
If found guilty of murder, Mubarak — who ruled Egypt with an iron fist for 30 years — could face the death penalty, the justice minister has said.
The former leader is in custody at a Sharm el-Sheikh hospital, where he is being treated for a heart condition.
A Cairo trial was a key demand of protesters whose relations with the ruling military and government have strained in the past weeks partly over accusations that they are delaying trials of former regime officials.
Despite his ouster, Mubarak remains a thorn in the side of the military which took power after the strongman was overthrown by 18 days of street protests.
Like all Egyptian presidents before him, Mubarak is a military man, which puts the ruling Supreme Council Armed Forces (SCAF) in an awkward position because he is one of their own.
He knows too much
The SCAF head and the country’s de facto ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, was Mubarak’s defence minister for two decades.
Putting the man who ran the country for more than 30 years on trial could prove difficult, simply because he knows too much, analysts say.
Few would have imagined a Mubarak trial a few months ago, and many still don’t believe it will happen.
But the military leadership, which has come under fire for stifling dissent and is accused by activists of stalling reforms, is eager to show it is fulfilling its promise of bringing to justice all those accused of abuse.
(AFP)
