Archive for Suzanne Mubarak

Suzanne Mubarak’s funds are to be transferred to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) at the request of the Illicit Gains Authority (IGA).

Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah on Thursday approved the IGA’s request to have the former president’s wife’s assets transferred out of the National Bank of Egypt and NSGB to the CBE. They will be transferred into a deposit account in the name of the Finance Ministry.

The IGA had previously ordered the seizure of all funds belonging to Mrs. Mubarak as well as her sons Alaa and Gamal pursuant to investigations into charges of corruption and graft.

The transfer is reported to amount to LE27 million, said Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Edited Translation from MENA

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The South Cairo Criminal Court on Wednesday supported the Illicit Gains Authority’s decision to ban businessman Mounir Thabet, brother of the former president’s wife Suzanne Mubarak, as well as his two sons, Tareq and Khaled, from accessing their money.

Thabet is detained for 15 days pending investigation into a graft case that also involves Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and Gamal, and former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq.

Shafiq faces charges of granting Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, as well as Thabet and others, plots of land owned by the pilots’ housing association in the Bitter Lakes region for prices lower than their real value.

The court has postponed the case to 23 February.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Acting on orders from the Illicit Gains Authority, officials at Cairo International Airport have banned Khaled Mounir Thabet, nephew of former President Hosni Mubarak’s wife Suzanne, from traveling.



Sources at the airport said Thabet, 51, who heads a private company, tried to travel to Dubai Thursday but was not allowed to board the plane as his name was on a list of individuals banned from traveling due to suspicions of profiteering.

Thabet was allowed to leave the airport after being informed of the ban.

Edited translation from DPA
 

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An Egyptian security official says former President Hosni Mubarak has been slipping in and out of consciousness, more than a week after he was transferred to a hospital inside a Cairo prison to serve his 25-year sentence.

The official says Mubarak's wife, former first lady Suzanne Mubarak, and her two daughters-in-law were visiting him in prison Sunday morning after rumors circulated that he had died. Mubarak was admitted to Tora prison after a judge convicted him on 2 June of failing to stop the killing of protesters during last year's uprising which forced him out of power.

The official says Mubarak lives only on liquids and yogurt. The official, who is in the prison, spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

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Tuesday’s newspapers focus their coverage on three chief developments: a million-person protest for a “Revolutionary Trial” to be held in Tahrir and other squares; Hosni Mubarak’s prison tales and reports of his imminent relocation to another hospital; and political deliberations with Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsy regarding the establishment of a caretaker presidential council.

“Resumption of million-man marches today in Egypt’s liberation squares — under Islamist leadership,” reads a headline in independent Al-Shorouk newspaper. The article says these massive protests are being organized primarily by the Brotherhood and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, along with the Salafi-oriented Nour Party and Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Construction and Development Party. The article also mentions that the liberal Wafd Party and social democratic-oriented Tagammu Party have announced they will not partake in the protests.

In state-owned Al-Akhbar: “Mohamed Morsy, Hamdeen Sabbahi and Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh call for a million-man march today.” The article mentions that the three non-Mubarak regime presidential candidates who placed highest in the presidential election’s first round, along with other political and revolutionary forces, are compiling demands for the “Revolutionary Trial” million-man march.

These protests will demand revolutionary retrials for Mubarak and his two sons, along with former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six of his top deputies. They will also call for the dismissal of the public prosecutor.

A headline in the Freedom and Justice paper reads: “Against the re-establishment of the ousted regime, Brotherhood participates in today’s million-man march.” In an unsubstantiated over-generalization of a headline, the FJP paper claims that “the families of those martyred in the 25 January revolution have delegated to Morsy the responsibility of getting justice and retribution for their dead children.”

In independent Al-Dostour newspaper: “Morsy attempts to capitalize on the blood of the martyrs to reach the presidency … while revolutionaries see through his opportunistic ploys.” Al-Dostour, which has been openly supporting the candidacy of Ahmed Shafiq — Mubarak’s last prime minister — claims that the Brotherhood is seeking to monopolize its grip on the Egyptian state and establish itself as the new ruling party. The paper argues that it would be impossible to dethrone the Brotherhood if it captures the presidency, as its members control the legislature through the upper and lower houses of Parliament, the executive branch through the presidency and Cabinet, and will dominate the forthcoming Constituent Assembly, which will allow them to tailor a new constitution that fits their interests.

An opinion column written by political activist Mamdouh Hamza in state-run Al-Akhbar claims that “the Muslim Brotherhood’s participation in street protests and marches to Tahrir Square are being organized as a campaign  for Mohamed Morsy’s presidency” — not for the sake of realizing justice in the Mubarak trial outcome, rescuing the revolution, or realizing its aims and demands.

Beyond the million-man march, three presidential hopefuls have been discussing and deliberating the establishment of an interim presidential council. However, the Brotherhood’s Morsy does not appear inclined to accept such a proposal.

“Tripartite negotiations fail to reach an agreement regarding the presidential council,” reads a headline in Al-Akhbar. The paper also mentions that the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has rejected the idea.

Al-Akhbar quotes three unsuccessful presidential candidates —Nasserist Sabbahi, moderate Islamist Abouel Fotouh, and leftist Khaled Ali — as saying: “We don’t recognize the results of the first round of the presidential election,” which was held on 23 and 24 May.

A headline in Freedom and Justice reads: “Say: Presidential institution, not presidential council.” Brushing off the idea of an interim presidential council, another headline in the Brotherhood mouthpiece reads: “Morsy, Abouel Fotouh and Sabbahi: Our meetings continue for the sake of realizing the revolution’s goals.” This article mentions that appeals filed against “electoral irregularities in the first round of the election do not warrant its cancellation.”

In the independent Al-Watan newspaper: “Failure of negotiations — between Morsy, Abouel Fotouh and Sabbahi — for a presidential team.” The article mentions that Morsy has turned down the idea of a presidential council and is flirting with the idea of appointing the losing two candidates as his vice presidents instead.

As for the ousted president, Hosni Mubarak’s prison life is capturing headlines in numerous papers. After being sentenced to life in prison on 2 June, the 84-year-old fallen dictator has been relocated from a state-of-the-art hospital near the Red Sea to Mazraet Tora Prison in southern Cairo.

Liberal opposition paper Al-Wafd runs the headline: “Family visit to Mubarak, the inmate.” The article mentions that on Monday, Mubarak and his two sons — Alaa and Gamal — received prison visits from their wives — Suzanne Mubarak, Heidi Rasekh and Khadiga el-Gammal, respectively.

Al-Shorouk writes: “Tora Prison unites Mubarak with his family and leading figures from his old regime.” The article mentions that Suzanne Mubarak delivered blue prison clothes (with blue signifying that a detainee has been sentenced and is serving his term in prison) to the ousted dictator. The article mentions that deposed officials are keeping Mubarak company in his detention facility. It also says that prison guards have been denying Mubarak and others access to mobile phones, computers or other communication devices.

Egypt’s papers:

Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt

Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size

Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run

Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run

Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned

Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned

Al-Watan: Daily, privately owned

Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party

Youm7: Daily, privately owned

Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned

Freedom and Justice: Daily, published by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party

Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned

Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Nasserist Party

Al-Nour: Official paper of the Salafi Nour Party

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Former President Hosni Mubarak is in poor health, said the head of public relations for the Interior Ministry’s Prisons Department.

“Mubarak’s wife, Suzanne, visited him in the intensive care unit for an hour as procedures and the health condition of her husband allow her to visit him [there],” Major General Mohamed al-Eiwa told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper on Tuesday.

Mubarak spent his third day in Tora Prison’s hospital on Monday after a Cairo criminal court sentenced him to life in prison at the conclusion of his trial on Saturday.

Eiwa added that Suzanne Mubarak gave her husband personal belongings, like clothes and healthy food. Upon entering, she was screened like all other prison visitors, he said.

The only exception granted was “allowing her to visit Mubarak at the prison’s intensive care unit, especially since [Mubarak] has knee problems, which hinders him from moving. So she was allowed to enter his room instead of us taking him to the visitors’ area,” Eiwa said.

Addressing rumors that other former Mubarak regime figures imprisoned there visited the former leader, Eiwa said Mubarak’s wife was his only visitor.

Eiwa denied that Mubarak had received any food from outside, saying he is only served prison food.

Mubarak currently suffers from knee problems, high blood pressure and heart disorder, Eiwa said.

Eiwa said Mubarak is wearing a blue prison uniform, and denied that cameras had been put in his cell, which would violate prison rules.

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Former first lady Suzanne Mubarak visited her husband at Tora prison Monday, the first such visit since a Cairo court sentenced the toppled leader to 25 years in prison on charges of failing to stop the killing of protesters during the uprising last year.

Suzanne Mubarak’s daughters-in-law, Khadiga al-Gamal and Heidi Rasekh, accompanied her during the visit.

An exception was made for the Mubaraks, as the law bars any visits for convicts within the first month of their sentence.

Mubarak’s former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, also received a 25-year sentence Saturday. But the court acquitted six former ministry officials on the same charges.

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak — the former president’s sons — and businessman Hussein Salem were exonerated from financial corruption charges.

The verdicts sparked wide-scale protests demanding a retrial.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Former first lady Suzanne Mubarak visited her husband at Tora prison Monday, the first such visit since a Cairo court sentenced the toppled leader to 25 years in prison on charges of failing to stop the killing of protesters during the uprising last year.

Suzanne Mubarak’s daughters-in-law, Khadiga al-Gamal and Heidi Rasekh, accompanied her during the visit.

An exception was made for the Mubaraks, as the law bars any visits for convicts within the first month of their sentence.

Mubarak’s former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, also received a 25-year sentence Saturday. But the court acquitted six former ministry officials on the same charges.

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak — the former president’s sons — and businessman Hussein Salem were exonerated from financial corruption charges.

The verdicts sparked wide-scale protests demanding a retrial.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Female circumcision is part of the prophetic Sunnah, said MP Nasser al-Shaker of the Salafi-led Nour Party, who previously proposed a bill that would allow the practice.

On a morning show on Mehwar satellite TV station, Shaker said notable Egyptian scholars have said the practice is part of the Sunnah.

Imam Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, Abdel Halim Mahmoud, former Islamic Research Academy member Sheikh Attiya Saqr and former Egyptian Mufti Nasr Farid Wasel — all late Egyptian scholars — had all authorized the practice, also known as female genital mutilation, Shaker said.

Shaker said former first lady Suzanne Mubarak was the driving force behind banning it.

Randa Fakhr Eddin of the Cairo Coalition Against Female Genital Mutilation replied to Shaker’s statements, saying there is no consensus on the law by senior scholars or Islamists, and that Sayed Tantawi rejected the law in the 1990s, saying it was considered a cultural habit rather than a religious practice.

The issue surfaced after some people accused the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party of launching a charity medical campaign last month in Minya, during which they had performed the practice on some girls.

FJP has denied the reports, and Hussein Ibrahim, head of the party’s parliamentary bloc, told the People’s Assembly Sunday that the party didn’t sponsor any such campaigns.

Female genital mutilation is widely practiced in Egypt and Sudan, along with some other African countries. Most Arab and Islamic countries view it as a crime, but some people believe it was approved by the Prophet Mohamed.

Al-Azhar Supreme Council of Islamic Research, the highest religious authority in Egypt, has condemned the practice, calling it harmful and saying it’s not based in Islamic law. Dar al-Ifta, the authority for issuing legal opinions, also condemned it.

The prevalence of the practice among women aged 15 to 49, who are or have ever been married, is 91 percent, according to the 2008 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey.

Rights activists say it is mainly performed by medical staff, such as doctors — unlike most countries where the practice occurs. Egypt officially banned female genital mutilation in 2007.

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The Gamaliya Misdemeanor Appeals Court has scheduled a verdict to be delivered on 26 June in the retrial of five Cairo Governorate officials over the deaths of 119 people and the injuries of 55 following a 2008 rockslide in Duweiqa, Cairo.

Defendants include Manshiyet Nasser municipality chief Ahmed Mohamed and the district's housing department official, Mamdouh Saad. All had been sentenced to one year in jail by a summary court, before an appeal by defense lawyers resulted in a retrial.

Plaintiffs' lawyers demanded that the court uphold the earlier verdict and oblige them to pay LE10,001 in compensation to each of the victims' families.

Defense lawyers, meanwhile, held Egypt's former first lady Suzanne Mubarak fully responsible for the catastrophe by allowing the construction of housing units in the area without installing a sanitary drainage system. This led the residents to discharge sewage waters near Moqattam Mountain, leading to the rockslide.

The lawyers warned that the disaster might reoccur since governorate officials have yet to solve the drainage problem. They accused the Mubarak regime of presenting the defendants as scapegoats for Cairo's former governor and his deputies, demanding the jail sentence be revoked and their clients be acquitted. They cited a report by the governorate following a visit to the accident's scene, which apparently proves the accused officials were not to blame for the disaster.

The lawyers also noted that a similar incident occurred in 2006 but left no casualties, as the accused officials evacuated the area based on reports that it was unsafe for residence.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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