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The ruling put the spotlight back on the highly divisive issue of justice for the former leader - and his top security officers - in a country has been more focused on the political and economic turmoil that has engulfed the country for the past two years. Mubarak, who is currently being held in a military hospital, will not walk free with Sunday's court decision- he will remain in custody while under investigation in an unrelated case. The 84-year-old ex-president was reported last year to have been close to death, but his current state of health is unknown.
A small crowd of Mubarak loyalists in the courtroom erupted with applause and cheers after the ruling was read out. Holding portraits of the former president aloft, they broke into chants of "Long live justice." Another jubilant crowd later gathered outside the Nile-side hospital where Mubarak is being held in the Cairo district of Maadi, where they passed out candies to pedestrians and motorists. The relatively small crowds paled in comparison to the immediate reaction to his 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 could indicate that the fate of Egypt's ruler of nearly three decades may have in some ways been reduced to a political footnote in a country sagging under the weight of a crippling economic crisis and anxious over its future direction.
The court did not provide the reasoning for its ruling, but was expected to do so later. No date has been set for the retrial. The ruling in favor of the appeal, however, had been widely expected. When Mubarak was convicted and handed a life sentence in June, that trial's presiding judge criticized the prosecution's case, saying it lacked concrete evidence and that nothing that it presented to the court proved that the protesters were killed by the police. Mubarak's defense lawyers had argued that the former president did not know of the killings or realize the extent of the street protests. But an Egyptian fact-finding mission recently determined that 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 Mubarak's successor, President Mohammed Morsi of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood. A new Mubarak trial would be popular, since many Egyptians were angered he was convicted for failing to stop the killings, rather than ordering the crackdown that killed nearly 900 people. But 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 at a time when the nation's new leader is struggling to assert his authority over a nation reeling from political upheaval.
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- 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.
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Mubarak and his former interior minister were sentenced to life in prison in June for failing to prevent the killing of protesters during the 18-day revolution in 2011 that ended his 29-year rule. In January, an appeals court overturned the sentences and ordered a retrial. Mubarak, 84, has been in detention since April 2011 and is currently being held in a military hospital. It is seen unlikely that he will be freed before his retrial.
The ruling ordering a retrial raised public anger over what was seen as a shoddy prosecution case. Critics believed Mubarak should have been convicted for directly ordering the deadly crackdown and sentenced to death. The issue of the revolution's dead is a sensitive one in Egypt, with the families of the victims demanding retribution and compensation. Mubarak's successor, Mohammed Morsi, promised during his election campaign that he would order retrials for former regime officials if new evidence was discovered. A retrial could help resolve unanswered questions over who ordered the crackdown and who executed it. Most of security officials on separate trials for the killings of protesters were acquitted.
Egypt's former President, Hosni Mubarak, lays on a gurney inside a barred cage in the police academy courthouse in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt's state news agency, MEAN, announced Sunday that the retrial of ousted President Hosni Mubarak on charges related to the killings of protesters during the uprising against him will begin April 13. MEAN said Sunday six security officials will also be tried and that Mubarak's two sons and a business associate will be retried on corruption charges.
In January, the appeals court ruled that during Mubarak's first trial, 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" and others were behind the killings between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, 2011. Critics scoffed at those charges, blaming Mubarak's police and sympathizers. Authors of a recently concluded confidential report by a fact-finding mission appointed by Morsi say they have established the use of deadly firearms by the police against protesters.
On Sunday, Judge Samir Aboul-Maati said the retrial before a criminal court will also include six other senior security officials who were acquitted in the first trial. Also include Mubarak's two sons and a business associate will be retried on corruption charges. 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 value. The business associate, Hussein Salem, was tried in absentia. He is currently in Spain.
Retrial of Egypt's Mubarak set for April 13 - Yahoo! News
Yet Kerry also served notice that the Obama administration will keep close watch on how Morsi, who came to power in June as Egypt's first freely elected president, honors his commitment and that additional U.S. assistance would depend on it. "The path to that future has clearly been difficult and much work remains," Kerry said in a statement after wrapping up two days of meetings in Egypt, a deeply divided country in the wake of the revolution that ousted longtime President Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt is trying to meet conditions to close on a $4.8 billion loan package from the International Monetary Fund. An agreement would unlock more of the $1 billion in U.S. assistance promised by President Barack Obama last year and set to begin flowing with Kerry's announcement. "The United States can and wants to do more," Kerry said. "Reaching an agreement with the IMF will require further effort on the part of the Egyptian government and broad support for reform by all Egyptians. When Egypt takes the difficult steps to strengthen its economy and build political unity and justice, we will work with our Congress at home on additional support."
Kerry cited Egypt's "extreme needs" and Morsi's "assurances that he plans to complete the IMF process" when he told the president that the U.S. would provide $190 million of a long-term $450 million pledge "in a good-faith effort to spur reform and help the Egyptian people at this difficult time." The release of the rest of the $450 million and the other $550 million tranche of the $1 billion that Obama announced will be tied to successful reforms, officials said. Separately, the top U.S. diplomat announced $60 million for a new fund for "direct support of key engines of democratic change," including Egypt's entrepreneurs and its young people. Kerry held out the prospect of U.S. assistance to this fund climbing to $300 million over time.
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