Mubarak bedridden and caged, goes on trial in Cairo

CAIRO – An ailing, 83-year-old Hosni Mubarak, lying ashen-faced on a hospital bed inside a metal defendants cage with his two sons standing protectively beside him in white prison uniforms, denied charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters at the start of his historic trial yesterday.

The spectacle, aired live on state television, was a stunning moment for Egyptians. Many savoured the humiliation of the man who ruled with unquestionable power for 29 years, during which opponents were tortured, corruption was rife, poverty spread and political life was stifled.
After widespread skepticism that Egypt’s military rulers would allow one of their own – a former head of the air force – to be prosecuted in front of the world, the scene went a long way to satisfy one of the key demands that has united protesters since February 11, when Mubarak fell following an 18-day uprising.
“This is the dream of Egyptians, to see him like this, humiliated like he humiliated them for the last 30 years,” said Ghada Ali, the mother of a 17-year old girl in the city of Alexandria who was shot to death during the crackdown.
It was the first time Egyptians have seen Mubarak since Feb. 10, when he gave a defiant TV address refusing to resign.
In the courtroom, a prosecutor read the charges against Mubarak - that he was an accomplice along with his then-interior minister in the “intentional and premeditated murder of peaceful protesters” and that he and his sons received gifts from a prominent businessman in return for guaranteeing him a lowered price in a land deal with the state.
“Yes, I am here,” Mubarak said from his bed, raising his hand slightly when the judge asked him to identify himself and enter a plea. “I deny all these accusations completely,” he said into a microphone, wagging his finger. His sons also pleaded not guilty.
The emotions swirling around the trial were on display outside the heavily secured Cairo police academy where the trial was held.
A crowd of Mubarak supporters and hundreds of relatives of slain protesters and other Mubarak opponents massed at the gates, scuffling sporadically as they watched the proceedings on a giant screen. They threw stones and bottles at each other while riot police with shields and helmets tried to keep them apart. Officials said 53 people were hurt, most lightly.
About 50 supporters pounded on the steel gate trying to get into the compound, chanting “We Love you, Mubarak!” until police charged at the with electrified batons and dispersed them.
Yesterday’s court session was largely taken up by procedural measures as lawyers from both sides filed motions.
But no matter how dry the action, the sight of Egypt’s one-time most powerful man inside the defendants’ cage, made of iron bars and metal mesh was riveting. Defendants are traditionally held in cages during trials in Egypt.
Mubarak was flown in just before the session from Sharm el-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort where he has been under arrest at a hospital since April. A sheet pulled up to his chest, he was wheeled into the defendants cage on a hospital bed at the session’s start. After weeks of reports from Sharm that he was in a coma, unable to speak and refusing to eat, he looked less frail than many had imagined he might. Though he was pale and his eyes were ringed with red, his hair was dyed black, he was awake, alert and even had a moment of his characteristic defiance, wagging his finger as he denied the charges.
With him in the cage were his nine co-defendants, including his two sons - one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa - his former interior minister Habib el-Adly, and six top former police officials.
From time to time, Mubarak craned his head to see the proceedings. Other times, he crooked his elbow over his face as if in exhaustion. While the other defendants sat on wooden benches in the cage, the 47-year-old Gamal and 49-year-old Alaa in their white prison uniforms stood next to their father’s bed, at one point with their arms crossed on their chest seemingly trying to block the court camera’s view of their father. The two sons each carried a copy of the Quran and leaned over to talk to their father.
Relatives of the defendants sat near the cage. During the session, Mubarak’s lawyer filed a motion that Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi – the head of the council of generals that now runs Egypt - be called to testify in the trial.
After several hours, the judge adjourned Mubarak and his sons’ trial until August 15, though hearings in el-Adly’s case would continue today. The judge ordered Mubarak held at the International Medical Centre, a military hospital on the outskirts of Cairo, and that an oncologist be among the doctors monitoring him.
Up to the last minute, many Egyptians had doubted that Mubarak would actually appear at the trial, expecting health issues would be used as an excuse for him to stay away.
Mostafa el-Naggar, one of the leading youth activists who organised the anti-Mubarak uprising, called the scene of the trial “a moment no Egyptian ever thought was possible.”
– Nampa-AP

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