Archive for Ahmed Refaat

Free Egyptians Party ‘shocked’ at Mubarak case rulings

by admin
June 4th, 2012

The Free Egyptians Party said Sunday it is “shocked and frustrated” with the verdicts in former President Hosni Mubarak’s criminal trial, warning of their serious impact on the revolution and aspirations of Egyptians for establishing justice and cleansing the country of corruption.

A court on Saturday convicted Mubarak, 84, and ex-Interior Minister Habib al-Adly of failing to stop the killing of about 850 protesters during last year’s uprising. They were sentenced to 25 years in prison.

However, the court acquitted six top police commanders charged with ordering the killings. Ahmed Refaat, the judge who presided over the case, criticized the prosecution for failing to provide evidence that police killed protesters.

Mubarak and his two sons were acquitted of corruption charges because the statute of limitations on them had expired.

The ruling sparked outrage across the country. Protesters took to the streets, furious that no one had been found directly guilty of killing the protesters.

Free Egyptians Party, a secular party that has 15 seats in Parliament, called in a statement for the establishment of revolutionary tribunals to thwart attempts to reproduce the former regime.

The party said prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence against Mubarak, but at the same time condemned attempts by certain political forces to exploit the verdicts for personal political gains.

“The matter at this historic moment, awaiting a new president and a new constitution, is beyond judicial provisions,” the statement said, calling on the people to have their say.

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Update: Morsy, Sabbahi and Ali join protesters in Tahrir

by admin
June 2nd, 2012

Presidential candidate Mohamed Morsy and former presidential hopefuls Hamdeen Sabbahi and Khaled Ali joined protesters in Tahrir Square Saturday evening.

On Saturday morning, judge Ahmed Refaat sentenced former President Hosni Mubarak and Habib al-Adly, his interior minister, to life in prison on charges of killing protesters during last year’s 18-day uprising. Although the two received the maximum prison sentence under Egyptian law, Mubarak's two sons Gamal and Alaa and six of Adly's top deputies were allowed to walk free. 

Many political groups called for protest against the ruling, which they said was too light.

All candidates were quickly swarmed by crowds of supporters; groups lifted Sabbahi and Ali on their shoulders.

“This was the biggest massacre in the history of Egypt, it makes no sense that the person who committed it remains unknown,” he told Al-Masry Al-Youm. “In this case the ruling does address the truth.”

Ali said the court ruled out a large amount of evidence from books, weapons, and videos documenting the violence during the uprising.

By late evening, numbers in the square continued to grow, with thousands filling the area.

State TV reported that 39 people had been injured, many from overcrowding, in the square as of late evening. They said injured were treated in nearby ambulances or transported to a nearby hospital.

Angry protests broke out across Cairo Saturday soon after the sentence was announced.

Fighting between police and protesters erupted outside of the Cairo High Court building in downtown Cairo.

Mahrous Abdallah, a newspaper seller, blamed the prosecution's improper preparation for the verdict, saying that even the judge said that the case papers were incomplete. He accused the prosecutor general of corruption. Abdallah believes the verdict is not in the interest of presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister, because it will compel people to rebel.

Outside of the Police Academy in the Fifth Settlement on the eastern outskirts of Cairo, where the trial was held, families of the revolution’s martyrs clashed with Mubarak supporters.

Riot police beat protesters from both sides. Four people were arrested at the clashes, Al Jazeera reported.

Many of the martyrs’ families were disappointed with what they perceived as a light sentence for the former president. The judge had the option to hand down a death sentence. More than 800 people were killed by security forces during the uprising that lead to Mubarak’s resignation on 11 February last year.

"[Mubarak] has to die just like my son did,” said Sanaa Saeed, whose son Moez al-Sayed was shot in Tahrir Square during the protests. “We need execution. They will let him escape. There is no justice in this country."

Mostafa Mohamed Morsy, whose son Mohamed was killed during the uprising, promised to continue the revolution until Mubarak is executed. "They are fooling us," he said.

Meanwhile, protesters are already assembling in downtown Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolution.

“It’s theater, theater!” the protesters chanted. They are demanding the death penalty for Mubarak, Adly and the senior Interior Ministry officers who were acquitted. The protesters closed the Qasr al-Nil Bridge and Qasr al-Ainy Street, both of which lead into the square.

In nearby Talaat Harb Square, scores of protesters are chanting “Death to the feloul [remnants of Mubarak’s regime].” Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, is one of two candidates in the presidential runoff on 16 and 17 June.

In Alexandria, Egypt's second-largest city, protesters gathered in the downtown area, the main site of protests over the last 17 months, calling for the cleansing of the judiciary and the application of God's law in Mubarak's case.

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Adly’s lawyer to challenge verdict

by admin
June 2nd, 2012

Former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly's lawyer Essam Mohamed al-Batawy plans to appeal the life sentence the Cairo Criminal Court gave his client Saturday.

He plans to file a case with the Court of Cassation, a higher court that interprets the application of laws and considers lawsuits resulting from judges' decisions. 

Batawy told state-run news agency MENA that the grounds upon which the court based its verdict were reasons that should be used to acquit former President Hosni Mubarak and Adly.

He noted that presiding judge Ahmed Refaat spoke about events that occurred before the 25 January revolution and condemned the former regime while he was issuing the verdict. When he talked about the cases he was considering, he mentioned that he had no concrete evidence to convict the defendants, Batawy said.

Refaat said while issuing the ruling Saturday morning that the prosecution's case only proved Mubarak and Adly guilty of complicity in protester deaths and was insufficient to convict the other defendants and that prosecution witnesses had given contradictory testimony.  

The court said it did not depend on the testimony of prosecution eyewitnesses, that there was no physical evidence condemning the defendants and that it resorted to the testimony of other eyewitnesses from outside the list of evidence brought against the defendants, Batawy claimed.   

He pointed out that case was a criminal one based on facts and numbers and had nothing to do with the history of the former regime as it was not a political case.

Batawy said the court's decision to acquit some of the defendants while convicting Mubarak and Adly reflected a defect in the legal doctrine.

He said basing the conviction on Mubarak and Adly's failure to order an end to the killing of protesters was an error, because after 4 pm on 28 January 2011, the police had completely collapsed, so the defendants had no real authority through which they could stop the killings. 

The armed forces were deployed at that time to control the situation and provide security on orders from Mubarak himself, Batawy said, claiming this was the normal limit of what a president could do in such cases to protect citizens. He said the interior minister had neither a negative nor a positive role in this instance.

Adly could not have intervened to order the arrest of criminals who killed and targeted protesters due to the presence, the lawyer said. He alleged foreign elements were carrying out the crimes to make the police appear to be the perpetrators.   

Edited translation from MENA

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Brotherhood vows to take to the street

by admin
June 2nd, 2012

The Muslim Brotherhood vowed to take to the streets in protest of the trial verdicts handed down to former President Hosni Mubarak and his aides Saturday in relation to protester deaths and financial crimes.

Following the Cairo Criminal Court's decision, which sentenced Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly to life and acquitted Mubarak's sons, businessman Hussein Salem and six security officials, the group urged revolutionary forces to meet urgently to plan what actions they would take in response.

The Brotherhood said in a statement that the verdicts make Egyptians sense “a grave danger” that threatens the revolution, and do not provide retribution for revolution’s martyrs. The website of the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, questioned who had killed protesters if police leaders were declared innocent.

In response to head judge Ahmed Refaat's statements that the prosecution had presented insufficient evidence to convict the other defendants, the Brotherhood said the institutions that hid evidence or refused to submit it to the prosecution should be put to trial.

The consecutive rulings that exonerated top police directors charged with killing protesters sends a message that they may continue to kill citizens and remain protected by the regime, the statement said, claiming that only the head of Mubarak's regime is gone, but not the regime itself.

The Brotherhood also said it suspects that Egypt will be able to restore money smuggled out of the country by former officials.

The group's call for public mobilization came after a long divorce from street politics during and following elections last November, in which they earned more than 40 percent of seats in Parliament. FJP leadership of the legislature has been highly criticized and the group has failed to win favor with more secular revolutionary forces. 

Mohamed Morsy, the Brotherhood presidential candidate set to run against Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, in the runoffs, demanded a retrial. On his Twitter account, he described the ruling as "farcical."

Some observers believe that Morsy will link the public mobilization against the trial verdicts to his presidential bid.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Brotherhood vows to take to the street

by admin
June 2nd, 2012

The Muslim Brotherhood vowed to take to the streets in protest of the trial verdicts handed down to former President Hosni Mubarak and his aides Saturday in relation to protester deaths and financial crimes.

Following the Cairo Criminal Court's decision, which sentenced Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly to life and acquitted Mubarak's sons, businessman Hussein Salem and six security officials, the group urged revolutionary forces to meet urgently to plan what actions they would take in response.

The Brotherhood said in a statement that the verdicts make Egyptians sense “a grave danger” that threatens the revolution, and do not provide retribution for revolution’s martyrs. The website of the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, questioned who had killed protesters if police leaders were declared innocent.

In response to head judge Ahmed Refaat's statements that the prosecution had presented insufficient evidence to convict the other defendants, the Brotherhood said the institutions that hid evidence or refused to submit it to the prosecution should be put to trial.

The consecutive rulings that exonerated top police directors charged with killing protesters sends a message that they may continue to kill citizens and remain protected by the regime, the statement said, claiming that only the head of Mubarak's regime is gone, but not the regime itself.

The Brotherhood also said it suspects that Egypt will be able to restore money smuggled out of the country by former officials.

The group's call for public mobilization came after a long divorce from street politics during and following elections last November, in which they earned more than 40 percent of seats in Parliament. FJP leadership of the legislature has been highly criticized and the group has failed to win favor with more secular revolutionary forces. 

Mohamed Morsy, the Brotherhood presidential candidate set to run against Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, in the runoffs, demanded a retrial. On his Twitter account, he described the ruling as "farcical."

Some observers believe that Morsy will link the public mobilization against the trial verdicts to his presidential bid.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Angry protests after Mubarak verdict

by admin
June 2nd, 2012

Angry protests are breaking out across Cairo early Saturday after judge Ahmed Refaat sentenced on former President Hosni Mubarak and his former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly to life in prison on charges of killing protesters during last year’s 18-day uprising but acquitted six of Adly’s aides.

Outside of the Police Academy in the Fifth Settlement on the eastern outskirts of Cairo, where the trial was held, families of the revolution’s martyrs clashed with Mubarak supporters.

Riot police beat protesters from both sides. Four people were arrested at the clashes, Al Jazeera reported.

Many of the martyrs’ families were disappointed with what they perceived as a light sentence for the former president. The judge had the option to hand down a death sentence. More than 800 people were killed by security forces during the uprising that lead to Mubarak’s resignation.

"[Mubarak] has to die just like my son did,” said Sanaa Saeed, whose son Moez al-Sayed was shot in Tahrir Square during the protests. “We need execution. They will let him escape. There is no justice in this country."

Mostafa Mohamed Morsy, whose son Mohamed was killed during the uprising, promised to continue the revolution until Mubarak is executed. "They are fooling us," he said.

Meanwhile, protesters are already assembling in downtown Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolution.

“It’s theater, theater!” the protesters chanted. They are demanding the death penalty for Mubarak, Adly and the senior interior ministry officers who were acquitted. The protester closed the Qasr al-Nil Bridge and Qasr al-Ainy Street, both of which lead into the square.

In nearby Talaat Harb Square, scores of protesters are chanting “Death to the feloul [remnants of Mubarak’s regime].” Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, is one of two candidates in the presidential

More protests are expected for later in the day.

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Live updates: Mubarak trial set to begin shortly

by admin
June 2nd, 2012

The historic trial of toppled President Hosni Mubarak is set to wrap up today when the presiding judge, Ahmed Refaat, hands down a verdict. The trial began in August 2011 and was adjourned on 22 February when Refaat declared that a verdict will be pronounced on 2 June. The former president could face a variety of punishments, up to the death penalty, for charges of conspriing to kill protesters during the uprising in January and February 2011. His former Minister of Interior Habib al-Adly faces the same charges in the same trial. Mubarak, along with his sons Gamal and Alaa, are also charged with corruption for involvement in selling state land at below-market prices. The trial is being held at the Police Academy in the Fifth Settlement on the eastern outskirts of Cairo. 

9:20 am: Judge Refaat has arrived at the court room. The former president, who will be transported to the court by helicopter, has not yet arrived.

9:00 am: The session is set to start momentarily. Heavy security is deployed outside the police academy. Families of martyrs' have gathered outside, anxiously awaiting a verdict.

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Mubarak trial verdict to be aired live, MENA reports

by admin
June 1st, 2012

Egyptian state television will broadcast live the verdict and sentencing on Saturday of ex-President Hosni Mubarak, his sons and security chiefs in a murder and corruption trial, official media reported.

State television will charge foreign media between US$7,000 and US$10,000 to buy the coverage, the official MENA news agency quoted the head the of the state's Egyptian Radio and Television Union, Tharwat al-Mekki, as saying.

The first several hearings the trial, which started in August,were broadcast live, but chief judge Ahmed Refaat then ordered cameras out before witnesses began to take the stand.

Mubarak and his security chiefs are charged with murder over the killings of protesters during the 18-day revolt that overthrew him on 11 February, 2011.

He shares corruption charges with his sons Alaa and Gamal.

The trial is taking place in the police academy that was once named after Mubarak on Cairo's outskirts.

In the opening hearing, dramatically aired live to millions in Egypt and abroad, Mubarak made his first public appearance since his ouster arriving on a stretcher.

A camera zoomed in on him as he fidgeted with his nose but mostly lay prone while his two sons Alaa and Gamal tried to obscure him from view.

Security officials said 5,000 policemen and 2,000 soldiers will secure Saturday's session and Mubarak's transport from a military hospital where he is detained. He will arrive in the academy on board a medical helicopter.

The 84-year-old former strongman, who receives treatment for a heart condition, was wheeled into the defendants' cage on a stretcher in past hearings, usually covered in a blanket.

His two sons Alaa and Gamal, both in white prison uniforms, stood by him, sometimes whispering to him when he apparently could not make out what the judge or witnesses said.

Over the 36 hearings, journalists, some relatives of the alleged victims and their lawyers were banned from bringing in cell phones to the court room.

Most of the benches in the lecture hall that serves as a court room were filled by often napping riot police conscripts in civilian clothes, while a few Mubarak supporters managed to gain entry as well.

Mubarak, his interior minister Habib al-Adly and six police commanders face the death penalty if convicted on the murder charges. Some 850 people died in the uprising.

Observers say the verdict may have an impact on a presidential election run off on 16 and 17 June between the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsy and Mubarak's last premier Ahmed Shafiq, who pledges he will not revive the dictator's era.

In an interview aired by the pan-Arab satellite station Al-Arabiya, Morsy said Mubarak and his co-defendants should be retried with better evidence.

"I affirm the necessity of retrying these people," he said. "Through the executive, honourable policeman and prosecution, there could be real evidence that brings justice to Mubarak and his codefendents."

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State news service: Ganzouri makes changes to Cabinet

by admin
May 10th, 2012

Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri has made a limited cabinet reshuffle, with three ministers leaving the cabinet, the state-owned wire service MENA reported.

Minister of Culture Shaker Abdel Hamid, Minister of Higher Education Hussein Khaled and Minister of Manpower Fathy Fekry would leave the cabinet, while Minister of Local Development Mohamed Attiya would be replaced but remain minister of parliamentary affairs.

MENA added that Mohamed al-Nashar, the head of Helwan University, is a candidate to be the Minister of Higher Education and Ahmed Refaat is a name circulated for Minister of Manpower.

Ahmed Megahed, director of the General Egyptian Book Organization, is in the running for Minister of Culture.

Edited translation from MENA

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Gunmen attack military checkpoint in North Sinai

by admin
May 5th, 2012

A military checkpoint in North Sinai was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) on Saturday, resulting in the injury of two recruits.

A security source said that a group of masked gunmen targeted the Abu Tawila military checkpoint in Sheikh Zuwaid with RPGs at dawn.

Recruits Ahmed Refaat and Carolos Mansour were hit with shrapnel in the attack. They were transferred to the military hospital in Arish City.

Eyewitnesses reported that the assailants drove two Hyundai Elantra cars and a motorcycle.

A state of dissatisfaction prevailed among security forces in the Rafah camp following the incident. The soldiers demanded better protection at the border, as many have been kidnapped or injured by smugglers without higher authorities taking action.

The attack on Saturday was the third on security checkpoints in Sinai and the first on a military checkpoint.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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