An ailing former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been wheeled into a courtroom as he goes on trial on charges related to the deaths of protesters in the uprising that led to his downfall. CNN’s report:
A nation watched rapt as toppled President Hosni Mubarak, once the epitome of the Arab autocrat, was wheeled into a makeshift courtroom in a hospital bed Wednesday to stand trial, accused of killing hundreds of Egyptian protesters in the uprising that led to his downfall in February.
Flat on his back and flanked by sons Gamal and Alaa, who were dressed in prison whites and also charged with corruption, Mubarak peered through a metal cage as the charges against him were read. It was a moment imbued with startling symbolism: a once untouchable family brought to justice by an emerging democracy they sought for years to crush.
How do you plead? asked Judge Ahmed Refaat.
Photos: Egypt protests
“I totally deny all those charges,” said Mubarak, holding a microphone, his face stern, his voice strong.
It was a day to celebrate for most Egyptians, but one that likely rattled the rulers of Libya, Syria, Yemen and other nations swept up in rebellions inspired by the 18-day revolt that brought down Mubarak’s 3-decade-old regime. The once invincible Arab strongmen are under duress and, if Egypt is any example, there is little succor for them if their governments tumble.
Mubarak faces the death penalty if convicted of ordering his security forces to kill demonstrators in an attempt to hold on to his unraveling state last winter. He and his sons face 15-year prison sentences on charges of financial corruption and abuse of power, stemming from allegations that they pocketed millions of dollars in a deal to sell Egypt’s natural gas to Israel.
Aharam Online has this roundup of reaction from Egyptian political parties and movements.
Gulf News notes that social media is abuzz:
Some twitter users, or tweeps, criticized Arab television channels that did not break regular coverage to tune into the live court proceedings.
Palestinian cartoonist Masha’el (@MishaaCartoon) said: “Saudi channel 1 continues to discuss Ramadan and diabetes while the rest of the world’s attention is turned towards the trial of the tyrant Mubarak.”
A large number of Arabic channels, including non-news channels from various countries broke regular programming to air the proceedings live.
Others however criticized what they saw as the Mubarak trial’s monopolization of the news agenda. One tweep wrote: “still no mention of people dying in Hamah [Syria] today”. Others feared that the Assad regime in Syria would use the distraction as an opportunity to intensify the violent crackdown on pro democracy protesters, and repeatedly reminded other internet activists not to neglect Syria.
The court proceedings’ regular interruption by lawyers shouting over one another became a target of jokes and mockery by social media users.
When the judge succeeded in restoring order, Kuwaiti tweep Ghalia Al Dhafairi (@ghalyyaa) wrote: “They finally managed to get all the lawyers to sit down. Looks like we’re watching the live stream of an elementary school!”
Highlighting the apparent entertainment factor of the trial, a twitter user even suggested that snacks should be sold during recess.
Some pointed out the irony that the former president was being tried in the very police academy that was named after him, as many other state institutions were.
While a few expressed sympathy upon seeing Mubarak wheeled in on a stretcher, other tweeps were quick to remind them of what they considered to have been crimes committed by Mubarak, disseminating videos of alleged Mubarak era state sponsored violence against protesters during the revolution.
Some decried Mubaraks arrival on a stretcher as a “façade” and as an “act” to gain sympathy while others tweeted that “Israel and Saudi Arabia are most distressed” at the trial.
Nevine Henein (@BeeboHenein) a twitter user from Cairo said: “If he [Mubarak] considered himself competent to govern then he’s certainly competent to stand trial. The age issue works both ways”.
Thanassis Cambanis, writing on The Atlantic Online:
How Mubarak is tried is just as important as what he is tried for. If the former president is charged only for the killing of demonstrators in 2011, or for the illegal enrichment of his nuclear family, the proceedings will tacitly condone the authoritarian system that Mubarak built and the excesses it promoted. Similarly, if the judicial process reeks of vengeance (or to the contrary, if it gives the former president a free pass), it will fail to pave the way toward a new standard of rule of law in Egypt.
Iraq aspired, and ultimately failed, to use Saddam Hussein’s trial as a cornerstone for a new judicial order. Jurists there built a careful process, and intended to showcase the entire sad history of Saddam’s era. In the end, though, Saddam was hooded in the middle of the night and hung after being convicted of just one of his crimes. Ultimately, Saddam’s execution looked like sectarian revenge – henchmen of a Shia government, chanting Shia slogans, killed Saddam for massacring a Shia clan, indifferent to the crimes Saddam committed against other Iraqis. Lost was the chance to build a unifying national narrative.
Egypt is not Iraq and the parallel shouldn’t be exaggerated. For all the corroding effects of Mubarak’s rule, Egypt’s judicial system and state institutions have retained more of their structure and credibility than their Iraqi counterparts under Saddam. There are plenty of judges and military officers and government bureaucrats in Egypt who retain professional integrity and public legitimacy.
Still, the content and duration of Mubarak’s trial will be a sign of what’s to come in Egypt. If the trial that begins tomorrow leads to a comprehensive airing of Mubarak’s sordid, authoritarian legacy, then Egypt has much to hope for. If, on the other hand, we see a perfunctory inquest and speedy, shallow trial (or even worse, a trial that seems designed to avoid the darker legacy of Mubarak’s rule), then we can expect Egypt’s next chapter to be sadly continuous with its last one.
AlJazeerah English’s report:
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.