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The 84-year-old Mr. Mubarak, the first Arab leader to be tried inhis own country, was ferried by helicopter away from the policeacademy where the trial was held to the Torah prison in Cairo wherehis sons and members of his regime have been either serving prisonsentences or held pending trials over a variety of corruptioncharges. He ruled with unchecked power for 29 years an era stained byallegations of widespread corruption, police abuses and a stronggrip on power by the ruling party. The harsh sentence against Mr. Mubarak, which he lawyer said wouldbe appealed, appeared aimed to defuse tensions ahead of a divisiverunoff presidential race that pits Mr. Mubarak s last primeminister against the Muslim Brotherhood s candidate. Mr. Mubarak, wearing sunglasses and lying in a gurney, remainedsilent inside the defendants cage, surrounded by hisonce-powerful sons who appeared nervous and had dark circles undertheir eyes. His elder son, Alaa, whispered verses from the Koran. Lawyers representing families of the slain protesters expresseddismay at the ruling after the judge described the case against Mr.Mubarak as weak, lacking material evidence or recordings. Theyfeared that the acquittal of six Interior Ministry officials wouldbe used in the appeal to overturn the ruling. This ruling is politicized and will be overturned on appeal, said Hisham Naguib, a lawyer representing families of 23 slainprotesters and 36 who were wounded as Egyptian security forcescracked down on mass protests that began by calling for reform butescalated to demand Mr. Mubarak step down. He did so on Feb. 11,2011, ceding power to a military council that itself quickly cameunder criticism for moving too slowly to transition to civilianrule. Judge Ahmed Rifaat delivered a strongly worded statement beforehanding down the sentences. Mr. Mubarak, who wore a light brownjacket over his clothes, and his co-defendants were in an ironcage. Judge Rifaat described Mr. Mubarak s era as 30 years ofdarkness and a darkened nightmare that ended only whenEgyptians rose up to demand change. They peacefully demanded democracy from rulers who held tightgrip on power, the judge said. Judge Rifaat, who was presiding over his last court session beforehe retires, said Mr. Mubarak and ex-interior minister Habib el-Adlydid not act to stop the killings during 18-day days of massprotests that were met by a deadly crackdown of security forces onunarmed demonstrators. More than 850 protesters were killed, mostshot to death, in Cairo and other major cities. Mubarak and his two sons Gamal and Alaa were acquitted oncorruption charges, but the sons still faced a separate trial oncharges of insider trading. Mr. el-Adly also was sentenced to lifefor the protester killings. Six other security officials wereacquitted. As the news of the sentence initially came through to hundreds ofprotesters and relatives of victims outside the court compound,jubilation erupted with dozens of anti-Mubarak protesters jumpingup and down and waving Egyptian flags and their fists in the air. Scuffles then between Mubarak supporters and opponents broke outinside and outside the courtroom after the verdict was read,reflecting the deep polarization of the country after more than ayear of turmoil. Helmeted riot police also clashed with protesters. The people want to cleanse the judiciary, lawyers chantedinside the courtroom after the verdict. Some raised banners thatread, God s verdict is execution. Rock throwing and fist fights left at least 20 people injured, anda police official said that four people were arrested. The officialspoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized torelease the information. Thousands of riot police and policemen riding horses had cordonedoff the building to prevent protesters and relatives of those slainduring the uprising from getting too close. Hundreds stood outside,waving Egyptian flags and chanting slogans demanding retribution. Some spread Mubarak s picture on the asphalt andwalked over it. Mr. Mubarak s verdict came just days after presidential electionshave been boiled down to a June 16-17 contest between Mubarak slast prime minister, one-time prot g Ahmed Shafiq, andMubarak s top foe, a Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi. I am an expert from verticalagitator.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Tank Agitator Manufacturer , Water Curtain Spray Nozzle Manufacturer, Side Entry Agitator,and more.
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