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Mubarak's new trial could answer a key question

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Hosni Mubarak’s new trial may resolve key questions unanswered in his first one: Who ordered the crackdown that left some 900 protesters dead and who pulled the trigger?

But the answers could complicate the new president’s efforts to stabilize Egypt and deal with its economic woes since they might bring pressure to go after still powerful figures in the security forces.

Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly were sentenced to life in prison in June for failing to prevent the killings during the 18-day revolution in 2011 that toppled the leader’s 29-year regime. Standing trial with them were six police generals, five who faced the same charges, while the sixth was accused of gross negligence. All six were acquitted.

The ruling raised widespread public anger over what was seen as a shoddy prosecution case. Many believed Mubarak should have been convicted for directly ordering the lethal crackdown.

The presiding judge of that first trial said the prosecution’s case lacked concrete evidence and failed to prove the protesters were killed by the police, indirectly giving credence to the testimony of top Mubarak-era officials that “foreigners” were behind the slayings between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, 2011.

Nearly 100 police officers have been brought to trial in a string of cases over the nearly two years since Mubarak’s Feb. 11, 2011, ouster. All were acquitted or received suspended sentences on charges of killing and wounding protesters, a trend that has angered those behind the uprising who say authoritarian rule cannot truly be ended without dismantling what is left of the Mubarak regime, particularly in the large police force and pervasive security agencies.

On Sunday, Egypt‘s main appeals court overturned the life sentences against Mubarak and el-Adly and ordered a new trial for the two. It also granted the prosecution’s request to overturn the acquittals of Mubarak, his two sons and an associate of the former president, Hussein Salem, on corruption charges. Salem was tried in absentia and remains at large. Six police generals who were found not guilty also will be tried again.

No date has been set for the new trial and no word on whether they would be all be tried together or separately.

Mubarak’s supporters cheered the decision, which came in response to an appeal by the former leader’s lawyers.

But the outcome of the new trial could bring a new setback for the 84-year-old ousted leader.

If convicted again, the life sentence passed against Mubarak and el-Adly would be upheld. They could also have their sentence reduced or even be acquitted.

This time, the case could be boosted by new evidence contained in a confidential report by a fact-finding mission appointed by Mubarak’s successor, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Ahmed Ragheb, a prominent rights lawyers and a member of the fact-finding mission, said the report has established the use of deadly firearms by the police against the protesters.

That finding, if substantiated in the proceedings, would bring responsibility for the crackdown closer to Mubarak and el-Adly.

The report has also found that Mubarak, contrary to what his defense lawyers have said all along, was fully aware of the extent of the uprising and how security forces dealt with it though a live television feed into his palace.

“This will be a totally new and unrestricted trial in which any new evidence or witness testimony will be admitted, including the report by the fact-finding mission,” Ragheb told The Associated Press.

While Mubarak and el-Adly are not likely to draw a heavier sentence, like the death penalty, the retrial could lead to the conviction of the six generals, whose acquittal was a surprise given the key positions they held at the time of the uprising. The six include the commander of the riot police, the security chiefs of Cairo and its twin province of Giza, the head of general security and the director of the feared state security agency.

Protesters calling for Mubarak’s ouster clashed with security forces in the early days of the uprising, with police using tear gas, water cannons and clubs to try to disperse the crowds, which swelled to hundreds of thousands in Cairo and cities across the nation of some 85 million people.

The worst day of violence was on Jan. 28, with hours of deadly clashes with police. Video footages from that day showed police trucks running over demonstrators and policemen using what look like firearms against the unarmed protesters. By the end of the fighting, police were broken and withdrew from the streets for most of the rest of the uprising — and they have only partially returned.

The days that followed saw violence whose source was murkier — though protesters blame security forces or Mubarak supporters.

Snipers shot protesters from rooftops or rained rocks and firebombs on them. Men armed with swords and whips and on the back of camels and horses waded into the crowds at Cairo’s central Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising. There were also attacks on police stations and jails, freeing thousands of convicts who fueled a dramatic surge in violent crime across Egypt.

But revealing the truth could also bring troubles for Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood. It could increase pressure on him to go after suspects in the security agencies, whose goodwill he now needs to cement his government‘s shaky hold.

Some in the Interior Ministry, which runs the police, have already seemed the resist the rule of the Brotherhood, which is the backbone of Morsi’s presidency. During Mubarak‘s rule, the Brotherhood was the regime’s top nemesis and security agencies frequently targeted it in crackdowns.

Recently, Brotherhood officials have criticized police for failing to protect offices of the group that were attacked by protesters during unrest in November and December over the new constitution. The criticism may have been one reason behind the replacement of the interior minister in a Cabinet reshuffle this month.

But moving to prosecute police officers could bring a backlash from security officials Morsi needs right now.

Morsi’s tenure has been defined by an enduring lack of security, with police still not fully acting against crime. At the same time, Morsi, who won election in June by a narrow 51 percent of the vote, faces sharp pushback from a liberal and secular opposition that accuses he and the Islamists are recreating the Mubarak dictatorship with a religious slant.

Morsi’s troubles are likely to grow when he introduces unpopular economic measures to prop up the country’s faltering finances, including reducing huge state subsidies on fuel and hiking taxes and prices to secure a $4.8 billion IMF loan.

Legal expert Nasser Amin said the new trial would proceed in a much less charged atmosphere than the first one, when Mubarak loyalists and relatives of the killed protesters often clashed outside the courthouse.

Attention may be more distracted by campaigning for important parliamentary elections expected to be held in April.

“These elections constitute the only hope to achieve a balance between the country’s political forces,” said Amin, alluding to the domination by the Islamists of the first parliamentary elections held in late 2011 and early 2012.

“It will be a very intense fight.”

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Egypt's Mubarak to get new trial over killings

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An Egyptian appeals court on Sunday overturned Hosni Mubarak‘s life sentence and ordered a retrial of the ousted leader in the killing of hundreds of protesters, a ruling likely to further unsettle a nation still reeling from political turmoil and complicate the struggle of his Islamist successor to assert his authority.

The court’s decision put the spotlight back on the highly divisive issue of justice for Mubarak and his top security officers, who were also ordered retried, two years after the revolution that toppled him.

The ruling poses a distraction for President Mohammed Morsi as he tries to restore law and order, grapple with a wrecked economy and deal with the aftermath of the worst political crisis since Mubarak’s ouster.

A new trial is virtually certain to dominate national headlines, attracting attention away from a crucial election for a new house of deputies roughly three months from now. Morsi and his Islamist allies are determined to win a comfortable majority in the new chamber, allowing them to take the helm of the most populous Arab nation.

The ailing 84-year-old Mubarak is currently being held in a military hospital and will not walk free after Sunday’s decision. He remains under investigation in an unrelated case.

A small crowd of Mubarak loyalists erupted into applause after the ruling was announced. Holding portraits of the former president aloft, they broke into chants of “Long live justice!” Another jubilant crowd later gathered outside the Nile-side Cairo hospital where Mubarak is being held, passing out candies to pedestrians and motorists.

Still, the crowds paled in comparison to the immediate reaction to Mubarak’s conviction and sentencing in June, when thousands took to the streets, some in celebration and others in anger that he escaped the death penalty.

Sunday’s muted reaction indicates the fate of Egypt‘s ruler of nearly three decades may have, at least for now, been reduced to a political footnote in a country sagging under the weight of a crippling economic crisis and anxious over its future direction under the rule of Islamists.

No date has been set for the retrial, but attention is sure to dramatically pick up when it begins and Egyptians again watch fascinated by the sight of their country’s one-time strongman behind bars in the defendants’ cage.

If convicted, Mubarak could face a life sentence or have it reduced. He could also be acquitted. Under Egyptian law, a defendant cannot face a harsher sentence in a retrial, meaning the former leader cannot face the death penalty.

The Court of Cassation did not immediately disclose its reasoning, but legal experts said the appeal was granted over a series of procedural problems in the conduct of the original trial.

The ruling had been widely expected. When Mubarak was convicted in June, the presiding judge criticized the prosecution’s case, saying it lacked concrete evidence and failed to prove the protesters were killed by the police.

Gamal Eid, a prominent rights lawyer, said the new trial could include new defendants and the judge ordering additional investigations.

Mubarak’s defense lawyers had argued the ex-president did not know of the killings or realize the extent of the street protests. But a fact-finding mission recently determined he watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed at his palace.

The mission’s report could hold both political opportunities and dangers for Morsi and his fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood. A new trial would be popular, since many Egyptians were angered that Mubarak was convicted of failing to stop the killings, rather than ordering the crackdown in which nearly 900 people died.

The report also implicates the military and security officials in the protesters’ deaths. Any move to prosecute them could spark a backlash from the powerful police and others who still hold positions under Morsi’s Islamist government.

In Sunday’s ruling, the judge also ordered a retrial of Mubarak’s former security chief, Habib el-Adly, convicted and sentenced to life in prison on the same charges, as well as six of el-Adly’s top aides. All six were acquitted in the earlier trial.

The appeals court also granted the prosecution’s request to overturn not-guilty verdicts on Mubarak, his two sons and an associate of the former president, Hussein Salem, on corruption charges. Salem was tried in absentia and remains at large.

The prosecutors in the Mubarak trial complained that security agencies and the nation’s top intelligence organization had not cooperated with their investigation, leaving them with little incriminating evidence against the defendants. During the trial, prosecutors focused their argument on the political responsibility of Mubarak and el-Adly.

Morsi, Egypt‘s first freely elected president, has his plate full with a rapidly worsening economy, stinging media criticism and the fallout from the worst political crisis since Mubarak’s ouster, first over decrees that gave him almost unrestricted powers and then by a constitution hurriedly adopted by his Islamist allies and ratified in a nationwide referendum last month.

Since coming to office six months ago, Morsi has had to deal with a slide in the nation’s currency against the U.S. dollar, shrinking foreign reserves and a tourism sector in a deep slump. Politically, Egypt is deeply divided by the bitter rivalry between his camp of Islamists and an opposition led by liberals and secularists.

Clashes between the two sides left at least 10 people dead and hundreds wounded last month.

Morsi was given a thinly veiled reprimand Sunday by the president of the European Union, Herman van Rompuy, who told a news conference in Cairo that only “consensus building, inclusiveness and dialogue among all parties” could ensure Egypt‘s successful transition to a “deep and sustainable democracy.”

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Potential impact of Mubarak retrial

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Egypt‘s highest appeals court on Sunday overturned Hosni Mubarak‘s conviction and ordered a retrial of the former president for failing to prevent the killing of nearly 900 protesters during the 2011 uprising that toppled his 29-year regime. A look at the potential impact of the decision:

— A retrial can produce a not-guilty verdict, uphold Mubarak’s life sentence or reduce it. It cannot stiffen his sentence, however, because defendants cannot draw a heavier sentence when they appeal a conviction. Still, new evidence could lead to the deposed leader being convicted of ordering the crackdown on the protesters, not just failing to prevent it, a scenario that would go a long way toward appeasing victims’ families.

— Also facing retrial are Mubarak’s security chief, Habib el-Adly, who was in charge of security forces at the time of the uprising, as well as six of el-Adly’s top aides — five for their part in the use of deadly force against the protesters and one for “gross negligence.” The six top police commanders have been free since their acquittal in June.

— Mubarak, his two sons and a family associate, Hussein Salem, will also face retrial on corruption charges they were earlier acquitted of. The sons — onetime heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa — are in jail while on trial for insider trading and using their influence to buy state land at a fraction of its market price.

— For Mubarak’s successor, Islamist Mohammed Morsi, a retrial is likely to be an unwanted distraction as he tries to restore law and order, and grapple with a wrecked economy, as well as the aftermath of last month’s deadly debacle over a new constitution drafted by his Islamist allies and hurriedly adopted in an all-night session in late November.

— A retrial could also deny much-needed closure as the still-volatile country prepares for parliamentary elections in about three months which Morsi and his Islamist allies are determined to win. It could also revive calls for a deeper purge of those viewed as holdovers from the old era.

— The issue of the revolution’s martyrs is a sensitive one in Egypt, with the families of the victims demanding retribution and compensation. They would be pleased to see Mubarak, el-Adly and the six top police commanders in the defendants’ cage again, but there are no guarantees that they will be convicted of ordering the deadly crackdown.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News