Fallen Egypt leader fights back in court
CAIRO: Hosni Mubarak, who yesterday escaped murder charges, ruled Egypt with an iron grip for three decades until he was forced from power by the 2011 democratic uprisings that swept the region. The 86-year-old’s spectacular fall from grace sent shock waves across the Middle East and beyond when he announced his resignation on February 11, 2011 after an 18-day popular revolt. Just months later, in April, he was arrested and subsequently charged with various crimes, including corruption and inciting the killing of hundreds of people during the uprising.
In 2012, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. He appealed, and a retrial was ordered. A court yesterday acquitted him of both sets of charges. Mubarak, who will remain imprisoned for three years in a separate corruption case, broke into a smile after the verdict was issued. Applause erupted and his sons and co-defendants stooped down to kiss his forehead as he lay on a stretcher inside their caged dock. The decision came after an appeals court overturned an initial life sentence for Mubarak in 2012 on a technicality.
His lawyer said yesterday’s verdict was “a good ruling that proved the integrity of Mubarak’s era”. Until protests erupted on January 25, 2011, Mubarak had seemed untouchable as president of the Arab world’s most populous nation, backed by the United States and the military, from whose ranks he had emerged. He had survived 10 attempts on his life, most of them by Islamists, but in the end, it was a popular uprising that brought him down. It was a blow he found hard to accept.
Unexpected rise to power After his overthrow, Mubarak said he and his family were the victims of “false claims that seek to ruin my reputation and challenge my integrity”. And following his life sentence, his health deteriorated and he spent much of his time in a militaryrun hospital. He recovered but was reportedly deeply depressed by the election of Mohamed Morsi, the candidate of his long-time foe the Muslim Brotherhood, as president later the same month. Morsi has been held in detention since the army deposed him in July 2013.
Mubarak rose to power unexpectedly, when president Anwar Sadat, who made history by signing a peace deal with Israel, was gunned down by an Islamist officer at a military parade on October 6, 1981. He took office a week later and ruled without interruption until his overthrow. Islamist militants were responsible for most of the attempts to kill Mubarak, including a failed bid to fire rockets at his plush Cairo residence. In 1995, militants opened fire on his motorcade in Addis Ababa. With his jet black hair, which he has maintained even in jail, Mubarak had a reputation for vigor and was once known to play squash almost daily. But that image suffered in 2003 when he fainted while addressing parliament.—AFP