On
Aug. 3, there was a remarkable scene in Egypt. Former dictator Hosni
Mubarak
was wheeled in on a stretcher into the defendants’ cage as his trial
started. Mubarak
was accompanied by his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, who held Qurans and
tried to prevent cameras from filming their father. Former interior
minister Habib Al-Adly and six of his top assistants were also in the
cage. Mubarak,
Al-Adly, and the six assistants are charged with the killing of
protesters during the Jan. 25 uprising. Al-Adly has already been
sentenced to 17 years in prison after he and his assistants were
convicted of corruption charges.
Mubarak
and his sons responded to the charges read by Judge Ahmed Rifaat,
saying, “I deny all charges.” Alaa and Gamal are both charged
with corruption. Both the Mubaraks
and Al-Adly were first tried separately, but on Aug. 15, Rifaat
officially announced that the cases would be combined.
The
lawyers representing the families of the uprising’s martyrs requested
the merging of the Mubarak
and Al-Adly cases, believing the merging could increase the chances
of Mubarak’s
conviction. Both sessions of the trial were initially broadcast on
national and international television. On Aug. 15, Judge Rifaat
banned the broadcast of the trial, alleging the move was to “to
protect the public interest.”
In
addition to those in the defendents’ cage, Hussein Salem is being
tried in absentia. He is the tycoon behind Mubarak
who fixed financial deals with the state of Israel to export natural
gas and sell it below market price. He is currently in Spain under
house arrest. Salem is a major figure in the world of Egyptian
corruption, fraud and money laundering
Mubarak’s
lawyer and defense
Farid
El-Dib is a well-known criminal lawyer who has defended several
corrupt tycoons in Egypt. Representing Mubarak, he claims that
Mubarak will not serve any jail time. El-Dib will argue that Mubarak
did not know that his junior men were killing protesters during the
first weeks of the uprising. The strategy of dragging out the trial
as much as possible is designed to prevent Mubarak from facing any
sentence including execution. Lawyers for the martyrs have stated
that El-Dib will depend on incomplete evidence and investigation
errors to discredit the case against Mubarak
Former
minister of intelligence Omar Suleiman and the current head of the
Supreme Council of Armed Forces, Mohammed Tantawi, were asked by the
lawyers of the martyrs, as well as by El-Dib to give their testimony.
Suleiman has claimed that “Mubarak
knew about every bullet fired at protesters.” At this point, Judge
Rifaat has not yet requested Tantawi’s testimony.
Clashes
outside of the court house
Outside
the police academy where the trials have occurred, clashes between
pro- and anti- Mubarak
demonstrators have erupted with only minimal intervention by the
central security forces and army. These clashes left 34 people
wounded and seven in critical condition, according to the Ministry of
Health. Mubarak
loyalists are protesting his trial claiming it is a humiliation of
the “father of the nation” and Egypt as a whole.
Family
members and anti-Mubarak
activists were disappointed and angered with the judge’s decision to
end the broadcast of the trial. The vast majority of the progressive
wing of the revolutionary moment in Egypt are skeptical of the trial.
In reality, the movement in Egypt is currently struggling to
dismantle the remnants of the regime, including the Supreme Council
of the Armed Forces.
Military
police disperse three-week-long sit-in
On
Aug. 1, the Egyptian military and riot police used brutal force to
clear Tahrir Square, ending a three-week sit-in that started on July
8. Egyptian troops and central security forces chased protesters into
the squares, alleys and streets near Tahrir. The police arrested
dozens of protesters, who were later taken into military custody.
Vigilante
groups collaborated with the military, harassed protesters and
confiscated cameras. Plainclothes police officers were Mubarak’s
favored method of repression under his rule. Now the SCAF is using
the same tactics and methods to suppress a mass movement of the
Egyptian people. Protesters and activists view this wave of
repression as a continuation of the Mubarak
dictatorship.
The
sit-in might have brought Mubarak
to the courtroom, but the struggle is still on for the Egyptian
people. The movement is well aware of the motivations of SCAF, Prime
Minister Essam Sheriff and other counter-revolutionary elements in
society. The struggle for social justice, to end police brutality and
military trials, and for a final end to Mubarak’s regime is
ongoing as Egyptians continue to organize and march in the streets.
