Mubarak ordered back to prison, retrial date set
Source: Agencies |
April 18, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Cairo appellate court yesterday set May 11 for the resumption of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's retrial in the deaths of hundreds of protesters killed during the uprising that ousted him.
The country's top prosecutor also ordered Mubarak transferred back to a prison hospital from a military one where he has been since December.
Mubarak remains in custody on new corruption charges after a court ordered him released earlier this week pending the retrial.
The decision to order him back to Tora prison, where his two sons remain pending a corruption trial, came after the prosecutor ordered the formation of a medical committee to look into the 84-year-old Mubarak's health.
Mubarak appeared upbeat in his first court appearance on Saturday since his conviction in June 2012. After being wheeled into the courtroom on a hospital gurney, he sat upright and grinned and waved to his supporters from inside the metal defendant's cage.
In January, an appeals court overturned a life sentence for Mubarak on a conviction for failing to prevent the killing of 900 protesters during the 18-day uprising in 2011. He was the first Arab leader to appear in a defendant's cage and stand trial by his own people.
The new date for the retrial was set after the judge in the case recused himself last weekend.
The judge had ordered acquittals in October for 25 Mubarak loyalists accused of organizing a deadly attack in which assailants on horses and camels stormed downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square during the uprising.
President Mohammed Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood group, criticized the judiciary for several recent acquittals.
"The acquittals of corrupt and criminal Mubarak-era figures confirms that the revolution is not complete," party spokesman Murad Ali said in a statement.
He said the acquittals highlight "dysfunction in the judiciary system."
In an effort to boost the nation's battered economy, some Brotherhood members have supported holding reconciliation talks with former officials to return stolen funds.
The largely liberal and secular opposition has criticized such moves and say Morsi has not taken needed steps to begin reforming the judiciary.
The country's top prosecutor also ordered Mubarak transferred back to a prison hospital from a military one where he has been since December.
Mubarak remains in custody on new corruption charges after a court ordered him released earlier this week pending the retrial.
The decision to order him back to Tora prison, where his two sons remain pending a corruption trial, came after the prosecutor ordered the formation of a medical committee to look into the 84-year-old Mubarak's health.
Mubarak appeared upbeat in his first court appearance on Saturday since his conviction in June 2012. After being wheeled into the courtroom on a hospital gurney, he sat upright and grinned and waved to his supporters from inside the metal defendant's cage.
In January, an appeals court overturned a life sentence for Mubarak on a conviction for failing to prevent the killing of 900 protesters during the 18-day uprising in 2011. He was the first Arab leader to appear in a defendant's cage and stand trial by his own people.
The new date for the retrial was set after the judge in the case recused himself last weekend.
The judge had ordered acquittals in October for 25 Mubarak loyalists accused of organizing a deadly attack in which assailants on horses and camels stormed downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square during the uprising.
President Mohammed Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood group, criticized the judiciary for several recent acquittals.
"The acquittals of corrupt and criminal Mubarak-era figures confirms that the revolution is not complete," party spokesman Murad Ali said in a statement.
He said the acquittals highlight "dysfunction in the judiciary system."
In an effort to boost the nation's battered economy, some Brotherhood members have supported holding reconciliation talks with former officials to return stolen funds.
The largely liberal and secular opposition has criticized such moves and say Morsi has not taken needed steps to begin reforming the judiciary.
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