Archive for former President Hosni Mubarak

Adly appeals life sentence

by admin
July 30th, 2012

 

Former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly has filed an appeal to the Court of Cassation against the sentence he received on 2 June for not stopping the killing of peaceful demonstrators during the 25 January revolution. 

The Cairo Criminal Court had sentenced Adly and former President Hosni Mubarak to 25 years in prison for conspiring to kill protesters, the maximum possible sentence under Egyptian law.

Former President Hosni Mubarak is also expected to appeal his sentence.

In addition, the prosecution intends to appeal the acquittals issued for Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and Gamal, business tycoon Hussein Salem, and six high-ranking security officials. The former president, his two sons and Salem were acquitted of charges of financial crimes, because 10 years had lapsed since the alleged crimes were committed. The security officials were found not guilty of killing protesters.

Adly’s defense team said that the court did not have material evidence proving that Adly failed to prevent the killing of protesters, and that he was not charged with intent to kill and therefore did not deserve the maximum penalty.

The defense added that the court did not specify all aspects of the crimes of which Adly was found guilty. Lawyers stated that Adly had told Mubarak the police force was unable to handle the situation when protests broke out last January, which prompted the former president to summon the army, thus lessening Adly’s responsibility in the matter.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Update: Mubarak returns to Tora Prison

by admin
July 16th, 2012

Security sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that former President Hosni Mubarak was moved from the Maadi Military Hospital to the Tora Prison Hospital, after doctors made sure that his condition was stable.

They added that Mubarak was moved in a motorcade of two armored vehicles, two ambulances and five central security vans, with the police cordoning off the area around the prison and blocking the road leading to it.

State-run MENA news agency reported that Public Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud earlier on Monday ordered Mubarak to be transferred back to Tora Prison, where he would spend a life sentence for failing to stop the deaths of protesters during the 25 January revolution.

Earlier in July, Mahmoud ordered the formation of a medical panel including Egypt’s chief coroner, two Cairo University medical professors and the director of the medical department at the Interior Ministry’s Prison Authority. The panel was tasked with analyzing Mubarak’s health to determine whether he could return to Tora Prison Hospital.

Public prosecution spokesperson Adel al-Saeed said panel members concluded that Mubarak’s health had stabilized and that there was no need to keep him in the military hospital.

Mubarak was transferred to the hospital in Maadi in June after his health had reportedly deteriorated. The move caused public uproar after LE6 million had been spent to prepare the hospital in Tora Prison.  

Edited translation from MENA

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Three former judges sent to jail over High Court break-in

by admin
July 16th, 2012

Sharabiya Misdemeanor Court on Monday sentenced three former judges to 26 months in prison for attempting to break into the High Court in downtown Cairo as part of public uproar over former President Hosni Mubarak’s prison sentence.

Prosecutors had referred the three judges to trial following protests outside the High Court over the ruling against Mubarak issued on 2 June by Cairo Criminal Court. The court had sentenced the ousted leader to life in prison for involvement in the killing of protesters during the 25 January uprising, which forced him to step down.

The defendants denied all the charges included in the referral. Their lawyer cited contradictions in witnesses’ accounts, material and verbal evidence, and deficiencies in investigations conducted by prosecution services.

The lawyer argued that investigations had shown that his clients were not present at the scene of the attack.

However, Ahmed Rashad, North Cairo Prosecution chief, said witnesses confirmed that the three judges were present during the attack. He said that, concerning contradicting witness accounts, the court is entitled to decide on its own perception of the truth.

Rashad said the three judges had been charged of thuggery, preventing employees from doing their work, and smashing the glass at the High Court. He denied that prosecutors had been hasty in referring the case to the court.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Public prosecutor orders Mubarak to return to Tora prison

by admin
July 16th, 2012

The public prosecutor ordered on Monday that former President Hosni Mubarak be moved back to prison after an improvement in his health that meant he no longer needed to stay in a military hospital, the state news agency reported.

Mubarak, sentenced to life in prison over the killing of protesters in the uprising against his rule, was moved from the medical wing of Tora prison to a hospital last month following reports of his health deteriorating.

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Railway blockages cost govt LE726 million since uprising

by admin
July 15th, 2012

Protests and labor strikes that have blocked railways over the last 18 months have cost the state more than LE726 million, said Hany Hegab, head of the government-run Egyptian National Railways, in an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm published Sunday. Close to 5,000 trains have been halted over the past year and a half, affecting 1.8 million passengers.

Hegab told Al-Masry Al-Youm that this wave of blockages following the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak is an all-time record since the establishment of the railways authority in 1854.

Since the fall of Mubarak, protesters have blocked the railways as a means of forcing the authorities to comply with their demands, Hegab claimed, adding that the nation's railroads have seen more than 870 protests and strikes since 25 January 2011. Reasons range from protesting against gas shortages to government appointments. The demonstrations have continued into 2012 as railway workers have held sit-ins on the tracks to protest low wages and poor working conditions. 

 

Most recently, four trains from Luxor that were bound for Cairo were delayed on Sunday after people in Luxor blocked railroads to protest the killing of a citizen while he was crossing the train tracks.

Officials at the Luxor train station told Egypt Independent that blockages caused delays in four trains that were heading to Cairo. This comes a few days after trains experienced six hour delays last Wednesday after residents of Huwamdiya blocked the railroads to protest the absence of clean water.

Hegab said that incidents such of these have cost 104,000 working hours on the part of the railway workers.

The railway authority estimates that 500 million passengers use railroads annually, especially in Upper Egypt, which relies heavily on the railways as the main means of travel to Cairo. According to Hegab, 70 percent of the train disruptions have occured in Upper Egypt.

Hegab told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the Egyptian National Railways needs urgent help from state agencies to save the railway lines and enforce a law criminalizing blocking the railroads.

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Fact-finding committee investigates protester detentions

by admin
July 12th, 2012

A fact-finding committee formed by President Mohamed Morsy to investigate detentions made since the January 2011 uprising has said it was informed by military judges and Interior Ministry officials that civilian and military prisons are no longer holding detainees who were arrested in connection with protests and clashes over the last year and a half.

In its second statement, of which Al-Masry Al-Youm obtained a copy, the committee said it received on Wednesday a notification from the military judiciary saying that the total number of detainees charged in military cases between January 2011 and 30 June 2012 was 11,879; 9,714 of whom were acquitted.

The statement said the committee would consider the status of the remaining 2,165 prisoners who have been convicted and are currently serving out their sentences.

The committee’s rapporteur, Mahmoud Fawzy, said it had asked military judges to provide them with the files of acquitted detainees to compare them with those still detained before submitting a report of recommendations to the president.

Morsy formed the committee to conduct investigations into the murder and assault of protesters from the beginning of the revolution until the end of the interim period on 30 June.

A member of the committee said that it is asking all security forces and judicial authorities for documentation and will refer those who do not cooperate with the investigations to the public prosecution.

The member, who requested anonymity, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the committee is investigating 13 incidents of violence, starting with the 18-day uprising.  

The committee has also decided to investigate claims that some security agencies failed to provide evidence to the public prosecution in the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak.

“We will visit prisons and detention centers and collect documents from security agencies. Whoever fails to help us will be reported to the public prosecution. We will investigate everything,” the member said.

President Morsy has promised retrials for those accused of killing protesters after senior security officials were acquitted of these charges in June while Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly each were sentenced to life in prison.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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New Central Military Zone commander appointed

by admin
July 11th, 2012

Celebrations were held Wednesday to mark the handover of leadership of the Central Military Zone to Commander Tawhid Tawfiq Abdel Samie.

The ceremony opened with a speech for outgoing Commander Hassan al-Roweiny, who was appointed assistant defense minister. Roweiny has reached the age of retirement.

Roweiny lauded the continuing support of the leaders of the armed forces, who he said helped the Central Military Zone carry out its mission and training activities after the 25 January revolution.

Roweiny is considered to be one of the most influential members of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. He told protesters in Tahrir Square in 10 February 2011 that their demands would be met.

The following day, former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, handing power to the army.

But Roweiny later became a hated figure among revolutionary forces, especially after he accused the April 6 Youth Movement, one of the main youth groups that helped kick-start the uprising against Mubarak, of destabilizing the country. He alleged that its members are trained by foreign agents.

Abdel Samie, meanwhile, gave a speech in which he said that leaders of the Central Military Zone have pledged to improve the armed forces and to protect Egypt.

Abdel Samie said he would enhance the level of training, competence and preparedness of the armed forces in the Central Military Zone.

Many leaders of the armed forces attended the event, including Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and Lieutenant General Sami Anan.

State-run news service MENA didn’t elaborate on who issued the decision to appoint Abdel Samie, but according to the supplement to the Constitutional Declaration that was issued last month, the SCAF has complete authority to control the armed forces without interference from the elected president.

Edited translation from MENA

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Mubarak sons in court on stock market manipulation charges

by admin
July 9th, 2012

The Cairo Court of Appeals on Monday is scheduled to try Alaa and Gamal Mubarak on charges that they illegally obtained about LE2.51 billion from Al-Watany Bank of Egypt.

Public Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud had earlier referred former President Hosni Mubarak’s sons, along with seven other people, to criminal court in the case.

Investigations suggest the defendants obtained the money by manipulating the stock exchange, Assistant Prosecutor Adel al-Saeed said in a previous statement.

Saeed said the defendants broke provisions of the capital market and central bank laws by agreeing to control the bank’s shares and creating a share for themselves. They allegedly buried and then sold the largest proportion of small investors’ shares, but did not disclose this to the stock exchange.

The defendants are accused of concealing their identities during the bank share dealings through cluster companies and personal closed investment funds located in Cyprus and the British Isles, and transferring their profits abroad.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Rafah facilities increase number of Palestinians crossing border

by admin
July 2nd, 2012

Egypt has offered facilities at Rafah border crossing to help Palestinian travelers cross from Gaza to Egypt, Egyptian Ambassador to the Palestinian territories Yasser Osman said Monday, according to state-run news agency MENA.

Osman said that during the past few days, the number of Palestinians crossing the border has increased because of the procedures and allocating enough resources for dealing with urgent problems at the crossing.

Osman said these facilities are intended to support the Palestinian people and to ease the blockade imposed on them.

He said it more facilities are expected to be introduced at the Rafah crossing in the near future.

After the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt adopted a new policy of opening the border daily, except on holidays. Under Mubarak, Egypt only sporadically opened the crossing for food and medicine or to let some people through, mainly those seeking medical treatment or traveling for study.

The border was closed in 2007 after the Hamas movement took control of Gaza, which is home to about 1.5 million Palestinians.

Hamas praised the facilities offered by Egypt to Palestinian travelers crossing through Rafah. It described the increasing number of travelers in recent days as “historic.”

Hamas leader Salah al-Bardawil said the increase to 1,500 travelers to day has happened for the first time, adding that the movement did not expect this number.

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Shafiq: Polling results should be respected

by admin
June 25th, 2012

Defeated presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq has said that professionalism requires respect for rivals, urging his winning competitor Mohamed Morsy to work on restoring security to the country.

The Presidential Elections Commission on Sunday declared Morsy the first elected president after the 25 January revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak. He beat Shafiq with 51.73 percent of the votes to 48.27 percent.
 
“As soon as the battle is over, the country becomes under the command of one leader, and citizens become in the same boat, so there should be no room for dispute,” Shafiq told CBC, a privately owned satellite channel, on Sunday.

Shafiq said he respects the outcome of the election. He also thanked his supporters and vowed to always be at their service.  

The former Mubarak-era minister said he would consider utilizing his supporters’ base to form a political entity if they offered the chance to him.

Shafiq said Morsy should consider security a major problem that needs to be solved. He warned that the deteriorating security situation would prevent the flow of investments into the country.

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