{"id":33439,"date":"2017-03-24T13:12:38","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T13:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/hosni-mubarak-egypt-s-former-dictator-freed-after\/"},"modified":"2017-03-24T13:12:12","modified_gmt":"2017-03-24T13:12:12","slug":"hosni-mubarak-egypt-s-former-dictator-freed-after","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/hosni-mubarak-egypt-s-former-dictator-freed-after\/","title":{"rendered":"Hosni Mubarak: Egypt’s former dictator freed after six years in custody"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Egypt\u2019s former dictator Hosni Mubarak has left the Cairo military hospital where he had been held in custody for much of the past six years, his lawyer said on Friday, and returned to his home in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis.}<\/p>\n

Mubarak, 88, was acquitted by Egypt\u2019s highest appeals court on 2 March of conspiring to kill protesters in the final verdict in a long-running case that originally resulted in him being sentenced to life in prison in 2012 over the deaths of 239 people in Arab Spring protests against his rule. A separate corruption charge was overturned in January 2015.<\/p>\n

He left the Maadi military hospital on Friday morning and returned to his home, where he had breakfast with his family and a number of friends, according to a report in the privately-owned newspaper al-Masy al-Youm. His lawyer, Farid al-Deeb, told the paper that Mubarak thanked those who had supported him throughout his trial.<\/p>\n

The strongman, who ruled Egypt for nearly three decades, often appeared in a frail state through his court appearances, dodging repeated rumours of his death and attending on a stretcher, wearing dark sunglasses.<\/p>\n

His health, however, did not fail him when it came to appearing at the window of his room at the Maadi military hospital to wave to crowds of supporters gathered outside on occasions including his birthday and the anniversary of Egypt\u2019s 1973 military victory over Israel.<\/p>\n

For those who worked to topple the former dictator, Mubarak\u2019s freedom marks a grim moment in Egypt\u2019s modern history. Yet some reacted with little more than resignation as his release became imminent, numbed by the years of political turmoil after his fall.<\/p>\n

Mubarak\u2019s democratically elected successor, Mohamed Morsi, was overthrown in a popularly backed military coup in 2013. Many see echoes of Mubarak\u2019s style of leadership in Egypt\u2019s current leader, the former general Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m neither sad nor disappointed,\u201d said Tarek el Khatib, whose brother, Mustafa, was killed in the struggle to topple Mubarak. \u201cI\u2019d have been surprised had things happened otherwise. Politically, everything flew in this direction and paved the way for the normality of this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past six years there have also been repeated efforts to punish family members and business associates who profited from Mubarak\u2019s regime, largely without lasting consequence. Mubarak\u2019s sons, Alaa and Gamal, were freed in October 2015, with a judge stating that they had served adequate jail time on charges of corruption and embezzlement of public funds.<\/p>\n

The notorious steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz, formerly the secretary general of Mubarak\u2019s now defunct National Democratic party, was named as an honorary leader of a political party in 2016, although he previously served three years on corruption charges.<\/p>\n

Despite calling the revolution that ended Mubarak\u2019s rule \u201ca turning point in Egypt\u2019s history,\u201d Sisi and his military backed government are regarded as the autocrat\u2019s political heirs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that Mubarak\u2019s release was something expected as his students are ruling the country. The same regime, the same corruption, the same brutality,\u201d said Mahienour El Massry, an activist and lawyer who served 15 months in prison under Sisi\u2019s rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cMubarak might be released, but in the eyes of those who believe in the revolution he will always be a criminal killer and the godfather of corruption,\u201d she said. \u201cThis might be another round that we have lost, but we will keep on fighting to change the inhuman regime that releases criminals and imprisons innocent people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others were less hopeful. Mubarak\u2019s freedom means that the families of those killed \u201care now praying for divine justice,\u201d said Mohsen Bahnasy, a human rights lawyer who served as a member of the Commission of Inquiry into military abuses committed during the 2011 revolution.<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s highest appeals court previously rejected demands by the families of those killed during the 2011 uprising to bring civil suits against Mubarak for his role in the deaths of protesters. An official inquiry later concluded that 846 people died and a further 6,467 were injured during the revolution, as Egyptian security forces violently suppressed the protests which packed Cairo\u2019s central Tahrir Square.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mubarak acquittal is of significant symbolic value in that it reflects an absolute failure of Egyptian judicial and legal institutions to hold a single official accountable for the killing of almost 900 protesters during the January 25 Revolution. It is indicative of a deeper, compounded crisis of transitional justice,\u201d said Mai el Sedany, a legal expert with the Washington thinktank the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a clear message to all Egyptians that no one will be held accountable for any corruption or oppression in this country \u2013 the state is loyal to its men and will continue to be,\u201d said El Khatib. \u201cDon\u2019t dream of any revolution again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hosni<\/figure>\n

Source:The Guardian <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Egypt\u2019s former dictator Hosni Mubarak has left the Cairo military hospital where he had been held in custody for much of the past six years, his lawyer said on Friday, and returned to his home in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis.} Mubarak, 88, was acquitted by Egypt\u2019s highest appeals court on 2 March of conspiring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[101],"byline":[160],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-33439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-internationl","byline-theophile-niyitegeka"],"bylines":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"contributors":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33439\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33439"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=33439"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=33439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}