Egyptians took to the streets in the aftermath of the verdict in the case of former leader Hosni Mubarak and other leading officials of the NDP regime. The people are protesting in Cairo., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Brotherhood's presidential candidate joins protesters in Cairo
Sun Jun 3, 2012 3:4AM GMT
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Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi has joined the Egyptians protesting against the life sentence issued for Hosni Mubarak in his trial, which they say is too lenient.
Morsi, who will face former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq in a run-off election on June 16 and 17, late on Saturday arrived in Cairo’s Tahrir Square where more than 10,000 people held a demonstration to denounce the court verdict, AFP reported.
"Either we get justice for our martyrs or we die like them," said the demonstrators, who were outraged after former dictator Hosni Mubarak and his interior minister, Habib al-Adli, were sentenced to life in prison and six police chiefs were acquitted for the murder of protesters during last year's revolution.
The 60-year-old former chairman of Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party was escorted by his group’s young members.
The youth cleared a path for Morsi as he toured the crowded square for some 15 minutes.
Mubarak and the seven other defendants were charged with ordering the killing of nearly 900 protesters during the popular uprising that ousted the dictator on February 11, 2011.
The verdict sparked fierce clashes between the families of the victims and security officials inside the court while the angry spectators called the court illegitimate and demanded that Mubarak be executed.
Thousands of people also protested against the verdict in Alexandria and several other Egyptian cities.
A protester in Alexandria said, "All the Egyptian people are angry with today's verdict. Mubarak and his interior minister should have been hanged. This is very upsetting to the Egyptian people, upsetting to the protesters, and also upsetting for the people that are not protesting. This verdict is unfair."
Egyptian demonstrators reject Mubarak verdict
Sat Jun 2, 2012 11:21PM GMT
Egyptians protest against the Mubarak verdict on Cairo's Tahrir Square
June 2, 2012
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Tens of thousands of Egyptians have taken to the streets across the country to protest against the life sentence issued for Hosni Mubarak in his trial, which they say is too lenient.
"Down with military rule!" the protesters chanted in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square on Saturday, AFP reported.
"Either we get justice for our martyrs or we die like them," said the demonstrators, who were outraged after former dictator Hosni Mubarak and his interior minister, Habib al-Adli, were sentenced to life in prison and six police chiefs were acquitted for the murder of protesters during last year's revolution.
Mubarak and the seven other defendants were charged with ordering the killing of nearly 900 protesters during the popular uprising that ousted the dictator on February 11, 2011.
The verdict sparked fierce clashes between the families of the victims and security officials inside the court while angry spectators called the court illegitimate and demanded that Mubarak be executed.
Thousands of people also protested against the verdict in Alexandria and several other Egyptian cities.
A protester in Alexandria said, "All the Egyptian people are angry with today's verdict. Mubarak and his interior minister should have been hanged. This is very upsetting to the Egyptian people, upsetting to the protesters, and also upsetting for the people that are not protesting. This verdict is unfair."
Meanwhile, at a press conference in Cairo on Saturday, Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi urged Egyptians to continue the revolution.
Morsi, who will face former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq in a run-off election on June 16 and 17, said the demonstrators are the only ones who can guarantee a free and fair election and the transfer of power from the ruling junta, which took power after Mubarak was toppled in February 2011.
"All of us, my brothers, must realize in this period that the continuation of the revolution, and the revolutionaries' staying put in their positions in the squares, is the only guarantee to achieve the goals," he stated.
Later in the day, Morsi issued a statement in which he called "on the great Egyptian people to continue their civilized, peaceful revolution to achieve their goals."
'Mubarak’s final verdict unjust to Egyptians’
Interview with political commentator, Kamel Wazni
Sat Jun 2, 2012 6:2PM GMT
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Injustice has been done to Egypt and to the people who put their lives to carry the agenda of changing Egypt. I think it’s going to be a great day for Egypt because they put Hosni Mubarak to jail forever but on the other hand I think justice hasn’t been served and probably if there is a new president in Egypt some of these cases will be retried under a different jurisdiction and probably will have a different verdict.”
Sentencing former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak to life imprisonment is injustice to the martyrs who died in the country’s revolution, says an analyst.
The comment comes as former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak gets life behind bars for murders committed during the country’s historic revolution in February 2011.
In a final verdict hearing in a Cairo court on Saturday, the ex-dictator as well as former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli was sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing of around 900 protesters during the country’s popular uprising.
Mubarak also faced separate charges of corruption along with his sons Alaa and Gamal. But the charges were dropped. The court dropped charges against six other security officials, who were brought to trial for the killing of protesters.
The verdict sparked fierce clashes between families of the victims and security officials inside the court. Angry spectators called the court illegitimate and demanded that Mubarak be executed.
Press TV has conducted an interview with political commentator, Kamel Wazni, to further discuss the issue.
Press TV: Mr. Wazni give us your thoughts on the final verdict in the Hosni Mubarak trial?
Wazni: The regime of Hosni Mubarak is done and the assistant of the imperial militants they are, actually according to the people they’ve committed a crime against the people of Egypt obviously by giving the go-ahead and exonerating them from any crime this is an injustice which has been done by this court.
And I think this will give more voices to the people in Egypt and throughout the country they will continue their struggle for freedom because freedom will happen where you have a clean system.
A clean system at the government level, at the social level and at every level and the presidential election that will take place in the coming weeks this will give it more push for the people to say their struggle hasn’t still been finished and their fight for a country where the law, true law and justice will prevail. They still have time to work on it.
Obviously this verdict it does not serve justice and it does not serve the people who were killed defending the freedom of Egypt.
Press TV: Mr. Wazni, let’s also talk about the broader effects of this verdict and how it will affect the upcoming runoff for the presidential elections.
Wazni: I think this will work on behalf of the nominee Mohamed Morsi because I think this has given a push and unified the people around him because they think Ahmed Shafiq is the continuation of the government of Hosni Mubarak and probably somebody who will come to power who will have a mandate from the people and who can make a difference in the future of Egypt.
I think if anything this would be a positive push for the Islamists and for those people who actually do not want the regime of Hosni Mubarak to come back and hold on to power.
I think this will resonate very well with the Egyptian people and you will not be surprised if you see a lot of demonstrations as it happened in the court and this will have a chance to spread throughout Egypt and you will see the ballot when the election comes will have more people going to vote and register their true sentiment probably voting for Morsi and Morsi hopefully will unify the country and bring a new justice that will be fair and equitable to handle all the crime that has been committed against the Egyptian people.
Press TV: Mr. Wazni, I’d like to know how you felt about the way the trial and the judicial proceedings were carried out. Judge Ahmad Rafat obviously insisted that the 10 month trial had been a fair one. Do you see it in that light?
Wazni: I don’t think it’s a fair one and you know it for the person that committed a crime, he can justify it as he sees it but I think the people have different opinions and different voices about what has taken place. If anything, this has… actually injustice has been done to Egypt and to the people who put their lives to carry the agenda of changing Egypt.
I think on the one hand it’s going to be a great day for Egypt because they put Hosni Mubarak to jail forever but on the other hand I think justice hasn’t been served and probably if there is a new president in Egypt some of these cases will be retried under a different jurisdiction and probably will have a different verdict.
Press TV: Mr. Wazni, You just mentioned this could be a historic day for Egyptians as they’re putting Hosni Mubarak away in prison forever but one of the guests we spoke to, one of the protestors outside the courtroom spoke in a different manner, that guest specifically said that the outcome of this trial would mean that Hosni Mubarak would serve the rest of his sentence in either a 5 star hotel or hospital. How do you perceive those comments?
Wazni: I think we have to look at it: he was convicted by a court, by an Egyptian court. He is a criminal, he committed crimes and that’s enough [of a] sentence for a dictator who ruled Egypt for a very long time. We have to be fair with that verdict because that verdict I thought it was equitable and I think even if he serves in a 5 star hotel but in the end he will die and he will serve his time as a convicted criminal… and somebody who killed his own people.
And I think in that sense this is a historical day and when the new elections take place probably the location and modification will change but we have to look at the positive side, the positive side of the equation: he was convicted in an Egyptian court that he killed his own people. He is a criminal, he is in jail and that cannot be denied.
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