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Mr. Mubarak and his interior minister, Habib el-Adly, weresentenced to life in prison, found guilty Saturday of committingpre-meditated crimes in the killing of more than 800 Egyptiansduring the popular uprising in the country last year. Mr. Mubarak, in sunglasses, lying on a hospital gurney inside thesame courtroom cage in which he appeared when the trial began lastAugust, showed little emotion as the court ruling was read. He wasthen quickly flown to the indignity of Torah Prison, possiblysuffering a heart attack as he arrived by helicopter. He willreside in the hospital of the prison in which so many of theenemies of his regime were sentenced. It was a verdict to which almost all Egyptians looked forward. Forthose who suffered under or fought against the human rights abusesof the 29-year-long Mubarak regime, it was a moment of sublimevindication. Mubarak will go down in history as a man who killed his ownpeople, said Hisham Kassem, a past head of the EgyptianOrganization of Human Rights and founding publisher of theindependent Al Masry al Youm newspaper. I m relieved that now hewill not be entitled to the honour of a military funeral, saidMr. Kassem, who worked for two decades against the regime scriminal excesses. For the majority of Egyptians it was more a relief that the trialwas over. They long for life to return to what passed as normalbefore the revolution, without the chaos and economic declinethat has characterized life since then. Even Mubarak supporters, who would be shocked at the audacity of apanel of three judges to find their deposed leader guilty, willtake solace in the fact that the man was not sentenced to hang, asthe conviction might have merited. Few expected the court to be so courageous, particularly since mostlegal observers considered the evidence to be circumstantial atbest yes, the president undoubtedly knew that security policewere acting in such a way that endangered lives or perhapsdeliberately killed people, but the smoking gun was not to be foundin Mr. Mubarak s hand. It would have come as little surprise that Mr. el-Adly wasconvicted of giving orders to shoot to kill, but it must haveshocked critics of the police force that the six senior policeofficials also charged with complicity in the killing of unarmedprotesters and bystanders were found not guilty of the charges. Thecourt concluded they were only following orders from higher up. Even as the stunning news of these verdicts is digested, Egyptiansalso will be very surprised that the charges of corruption alsobrought against Mr. Mubarak s two sons, Alaa and Gamal, weredropped by the court, apparently because the charges were broughtafter a statute of limitations had expired. The two younger Mubaraks had been accused of accepting bribes villas in the Egyptian resort area of Sharm el-Sheikh to helpsecure their father s influence in facilitating land concessionsto resort developer Hussein Salem, who has since fled the country.Another of Mr. Salem s companies also stands accused of exportingnatural gas to Israel at artificially low prices and therebysquandering public revenue. He is also accused of illegallyprofiting by having exclusive rights to export the gas improperlygranted to him by then-president Mubarak. One Egyptian business consultant who has had dealings with firmsclose to Gamal Mubarak said he had expected the book to be thrownat the sons, while daddy would be let off. It was not to be. Throughout the morning s court appearance, Alaa and Gamal Mubarakstood with arms folded across their chests blocking most of thepeople in the court from seeing their father. They too showedlittle but defiance at the proceedings. Immediately, as the initial verdict of a conviction of Mr. Mubarakand Mr. el-Adly was declared, the crowd of protesters outside thecourtroom erupted in celebration. Then, when news sunk in that thesix security commanders had been acquitted, the mood turned uglyand many protesters began to push and shove the phalanx of securityforces guarding the military building that housed the courtroom.There will be great bitterness that the police, so hated by manyEgyptians, have been let off. However, it is unlikely that verdict will prompt the kind of riotsthat would have ensued had Hosni Mubarak not been convicted. He s a jailbird, now, said a satisfied Mr. Kassem, the humanrights activist and publisher. With a report from Reuters More related to this story Video: Court chaos after Mubarak's conviction. I am an expert from photographicstudioequipment.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Photography Continuous Lighting , Portable Power Pack Inverter, Speedlite Flashes,and more.
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