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June 2nd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
He was flown in daily by helicopter from the luxurious hospital where he was
staying, then wheeled into the courtroom strapped on a trolley, ashen-faced
and sickly.
During the proceedings he was confined within a metal cage of bars and mesh
like a common criminal, alongside his two hated sons, a senior crony and
some ex-police chiefs, all beneficiaries of his corrupt 30-year rule and his
co-accused in Egypt’s trial of the century.
But instead of justice being seeing to be done, eight months later the trial
has looked deeply flawed.
Many Egyptians believe that behind the scenes their army rulers fixed it so
that the old commander-in-chief would not be treated too harshly, and could
keep the secrets of his regime safe from public scrutiny.
As the trial got going, euphoria quickly turned to dismay amid scenes of utter
chaos.
Hundreds of lawyers claiming to represent Mr Mubarak’s victims argued
furiously in the courtroom and even wrestled and hit each other as they
struggled to address the panel of three judges and give long, grandstanding
speeches. One claimed the real president had died in 2004 and insisted that
the defendant was an impostor who should be subjected to a DNA test.
After that pantomime there were delays, legal wrangles and procedural
hold-ups. But what really eroded faith in the trial was the weakness of the
prosecution case that was supposed to nail the former president.
What was not in doubt was the carnage between January 25 – 31, at the height
of the Arab Spring.
Not only in Tahrir Square, the focal point for the anti-regime protests, but
also in side streets of Cairo, villages in the Nile delta, and in the cities
of Alexandria and Suez, hundreds of people were killed and far more injured.
Paid thugs beat and kidnapped protesters, vehicles were driven into crowds
at high speed to kill and maim, and snipers shot down protesters, then shot
those who went to their aid.
At one point, as rival mobs clashed in the centre of Cairo, government
supporters rode into Tahrir Square on the backs of camels, one of the most
memorable images of the Arab Spring.
As bodies piled up in morgues nearly all Egyptians, and most of the world,
believed the violence was specifically ordered to cow the protest movement,
and to show the anarchy that the government could unleash when challenged.
Then on January 31, after intense pressure from Egypt’s ally the United States
and growing worldwide revulsion, the violence ended as abruptly as it had
begun.
The hated police vanished from the streets, and the army arrived, to be
greeted as saviours of the people – although they are no longer seen like
that.
To most Egyptians, it seemed clear who had been responsible, but prosecutors
could only sketch out a circumstantial case against Mr Mubarak.
Some of the biggest names from the old regime, such as Field Marshal Hussein
Tantawi and Omar Soliman, the former vice-president, told the court what had
happened inside the presidential palace, a 400-room former hotel in the
swankiest part of Cairo, during those extraordinary 18 days.
None gave evidence that then-President Mubarak had ordered the crackdown or
directed his brutal security forces to kill or attack protesters, however.
Mr Mubarak’s co-defendant Habib al-Adly, the former interior minister, told
the court that unknown terrorists had sneaked into the country to shoot down
civilians, at the behest of foreign powers.
Mr Mubarak’s own celebrity lawyer Farid el-Deeb, known for flamboyantly
smoking cigars during recess periods, said that his client “was clean
and could say no wrong” and the victim of “slander and libel”.
The uncomfortable fact, as prosecutors gave closing speeches in February and
demanded the death penalty, was that there was no smoking gun. Instead of
presenting hard evidence they could only argue weakly that, as president, Mr
Mubarak must have known what was going on and the killings were so extensive
and widely reported that he could have stopped them sooner had he wished.
Part of the problem with that argument was that the president, who at the time
of the protests was aged 82 and suffering suspected cancer and heart
problems, didn’t really look as if he was in control of Egypt, or perhaps
even his own faculties. He relied heavily on his sons and various cronies,
and looked desperately out of touch throughout the crisis.
If he felt any emotion as his alleged crimes were recounted by lawyers and
some of the 1,600 prosecution witnesses, he was careful to conceal it,
always wearing dark glasses in court. He spent much of the proceedings with
his hands behind his head, lying on his trolley, apparently paying little
attention.
Under house arrest in one of his luxurious homes, and then in Cairo’s
International Medical Centre where he was closely guarded, he was depressed,
endlessly watching taped football matches. Sometimes he would walk in the
hospital’s garden, striking a lonely figure.
It was a miserable ending for the career of a man who was genuinely loved by
many of his people right up to moment on Feb 11 last year when he finally
stepped down.
He still has admirers in Egypt, although they generally keep a low profile. A
Facebook page called “We are sorry Mr President” managed a
miserable 19 “likes”.
His two sons Alaa and Gamal, who sometimes appeared in court carrying copies
of the Koran and tried to stand in front of their father to shield him from
television cameras, were accused of accepting bribes from developers. When
their father ran Egypt as the family fiefdom they controlled much of the
nation’s business.
The corruption charges faced by Mubarak senior were for accepting a bribe from
a developer who wanted to build a golf course in the Red Sea resort town of
Sharm al-Sheikh, and for a corrupt deal to sell gas to Israel for prices
lower than the international market rate.
Gamal, the oldest and reputedly the greediest son, had been the elderly Mr
Mubarak’s heir-apparent, and many believe he was the real power behind his
aged father’s throne during the president’s years of decline.
A clutch of top regime officials were also on trial accused of murdering
protesters, including the former interior minister Habib al-Adly.
Hundreds more policemen murdered and tortured for the regime, and crooked
officials stole without restraint. Many of them are still in their jobs.
There are no plans yet to put them on trial.
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