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Hosni Mubarak's sentence greeted with initial euphoria, then anger
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Hosni Mubarak's sentence greeted with initial euphoria, then anger
Egyptians react with dismay as former president is convicted on lesser charge and given sentence 'wide open' to appeal
Jack Shenker and Abdel-Rahman Hussein in Cairo
Egypt's stuttering revolution has taken a dramatic new turn after Hosni Mubarak, the country's all-powerful dictator for 30 years, was sentenced to life imprisonment for enabling the massacre of protesters who rose up against his rule.
{sidebar id=11 align=right}But initial euphoria at the historic verdict – the first time an Arab leader has ever been deposed, tried and convicted by his own people – quickly gave way to confusion and then fury on the streets as full details of the court judgement emerged.
Watched by tens of millions on live television, the judge, Ahmed Refaat, declared that neither Mubarak nor any other defendants in the so-called "trial of the century" were responsible for ordering the lethal assault by security forces last January and February that left almost a thousand demonstrators dead, and that the toppled autocrat and his former interior minister Habib al-Adly were guilty only of not using their high political office to put a stop to the bloodshed.
All other charges, which included profiteering and economic fraud, were dismissed, allowing key members of Mubarak's family and security apparatus – including his two sons Gamal and Alaa and several top security officials – to walk free. Legal experts claimed the ruling left Mubarak's life sentence "wide open" to appeal, and political analysts said the outcome was a victory for the deep state and a sign of the old regime reasserting its grip over the country.
"The verdict shows that they are quite willing to cut off the heads of the regime and throw them to the dogs in an effort to preserve the rest," argued Issandr el-Amrani, a columnist on Egyptian affairs who blogs as the Arabist.
{sidebar id=12 align=right}Amnesty International said the ruling had failed to end a culture of impunity for security officials and politicians guilty of human rights abuses, and warned that the wait for genuine justice went on.
Against the backdrop of a looming presidential poll pitting the Muslim Brotherhood against Ahmed Shafik, Mubarak's final prime minister and the man many Egyptians believe has been promoted by the military junta and the now-disbanded NDP party to crush the revolution, Refaat began his verdict with a florid paean of praise to those who died for freedom. Describing Mubarak's reign as three decades of "black oppression without any glimpse of hope", he went on to call the start of the post-Mubarak era a "bright new day for Egypt".
But as the complete verdict was delivered inside the police academy turned courthouse in the eastern suburb of New Cairo where the 10-month trial took place, scuffles erupted in front of the bench and angry lawyers chanted "the people want the cleansing of the judiciary".
Outside, where anti-Mubarak protesters and the family members of those killed were separated off from a pro-Mubarak rally by thousands of riot police and armoured personnel carriers, revolutionaries reacted with disbelief and rage as the full implication of the judge's words became apparent. "This isn't a verdict – Mubarak is a dead man anyway but the others need to be executed 10 times over," said Mohamed Atyan, an ever-present figure throughout the trial who describes himself as the father of all the martyrs, as shouts of "it's theatre" thundered all around him.
"Our children's blood is cheap," Atyan concluded. "We must go back to our spiritual home, Tahrir Square."
Running battles soon broke out between rival demonstrators and the police, with rocks and debris pelted through the air by all sides. "The rabble of Tahrir are paid thugs who create chaos," said Umm Karim, one of those who had come to show one of the Middle East's most entrenched despots their support. "He should never have been on trial in the first place," added Safi el-Hennawy, another pro-Mubarak supporter.
Shafik commended the verdicts, saying they indicated "that nobody in Egypt is still above punishment or accountability". State television claimed early on Sunday that dozens of young Egyptians had stormed Shafik's campaign headquarters, destroying the contents. This could not be confirmed, but if true it would be the second attack on his office in a few days.
As Mubarak was flown by helicopter to join many of his former ministers in Tora prison, the building that once housed hundreds of political opponents who had dared to dissent against his rule, Egypt's political parties scrambled to reject the verdicts. The Brotherhood said it was convening an urgent meeting of anti-regime forces to co-ordinate a response, while the defeated presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi – who campaigned to replace Mubarak on a secular, pro-revolutionary programme but was narrowly beaten to the runoff by Shafik – called on Egyptians across the nation to take to the streets. In Tahrir, the urban heart of the revolution where so many protesters met their end, thousands answered that call, many tearing down Shafik posters on the way. Some brandished hastily scrawled placards reading: "We will die again."
"Those who want to see the end of this revolution will be cheering these verdicts, as will the security officials whose hands are dripping in our blood," said the revolutionary activist Hossam el-Hamalawy, from Tahrir Square. Foreign embassies, including the British government, advised their citizens to avoid the centre of the capital.
Egyptian state television reported claims that Mubarak, 84, had suffered a heart attack soon after hearing the verdict but this could not be independently confirmed. The former president's legal team have in the past reported on multiple occasions that their client was critically ill, only for doctors to dismiss the claims.
Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, one of the human rights organisations monitoring the case, said the prosecution had been hampered by withheld evidence and a lack of support from state institutions, and predicted that a retrial was likely. "We are glad that Mubarak and his police chief did not walk free but extremely disappointed at the acquittal of six security officials and even more at the reason given for the acquittals, which is the lack of evidence linking them with the killing of protesters," he told the Guardian.
"Today one is reminded of the closing argument of the chief prosecutor, in which he bitterly complained that he was on his own and had received no support from the state. It sends an extremely negative message and is a huge step back in our efforts to restructure the security apparatus. But this is not the end of the trial, in fact it is merely the beginning. There is no doubt that the verdict will go to the court of cassation, which is very likely to order a retrial, and we hope that any new trial will have the independence and integrity needed for further investigations." Rise and fall of a dictator
1928 Born 4 May. After finishing high school, Mubarak enters the Egyptian Military Academy and gains a commission as a pilot officer in March 1950.
His career in military service reaches its pinnacle after the Yom Kippur war of 1973 when he is made air chief marshal, and ends when he is appointed vice-president of Egypt in April 1975.
1981 Mubarak becomes Egypt's president following the assassination of Anwar el-Sadat.
1989 Egypt is finally readmitted to the Arab League. The league's headquarters is relocated to its original base in Cairo.
1991 Supports the coalition in the Gulf war, with Egyptian infantry among the first soldiers to evict Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
1995 Survives one of six assassination attempts while in Ethiopia for a conference of the Organisation of African Unity.
2003 Speaks out against the Iraq war, arguing that Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be resolved first. He claims that the conflict will lead to "100 [Osama] Bin Ladens".
2005 Mubarak wins his fourth successive election. The polls involve widespread rigging, according to civil organisations that observe them.
2011 Mass protests against Mubarak and his regime erupt on 25 January in Cairo and other cities. Mubarak says he will not leave office and will die on Egyptian soil.
1 February Mubarak announces that he will not seek re-election but would like to finish his term and promises reform. Protests continue.
10 February He makes last TV appearance as president The next day the vice-president, Omar Suleiman, announces Mubarak has resigned and power will be turned over to the Egyptian military.
2 June, 2012 Jailed for life for enabling the massacre of protesters.
Source: The Guardian UK
No commentsLife in jail for Mubarak, but acquittal for most
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Life in jail for Mubarak, but acquittal for most
Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's former president, was sentenced to life behind bars. But many revolutionaries view the verdict as a slap in the face. The policemen who killed protesters were acquitted.
Upon hearing Mubarak's sentence, Hazin Gomar fell to his knees and cried, "Allahu Akbar!" - God is great. He bent his head toward the ground to kiss a photo of his son, Hussein, who was shot and killed by a policeman during the revolution on January 28, 2011.
Since Hussein's death, his father has sought justice. And the moment in which ex-president was sentenced to jail came close. Hazin Gomar broke into tears.
"It's the happiest day in my life - God is great, God is great," he cried.
Acquittal for killers
But there was uproar among revolutionaries once news spread that all other parties accused of perpetrating the bloodbath against protesters were acquitted. Among those facing no punishment are six assistants to the former interior minister Habib el-Abi. Three of those assistants head police stations in Cairo.
No one faces conviction for killing demonstrators one and a half years ago in Egypt, and Mubarak and el-Adli were convicted solely on the grounds that they did not stop the assaults.
Many see it as a slap in the face to the families of protesters as well as a clear signal to police that if they kill demonstrators, nothing will happen. That could encourage police officers to use violence during future protests. Abdel Mannam Abdel Maksut, a lawyer for the Muslim Brotherhood and a joint plaintiff in the case, is disappointed.
"The trial wasn't conducted in a fair way, and the result against Mubarak and el-Aldi is a political calculation," he said.
Military council hoping for quiet
The military council is hoping to quiet the situation on the streets with this verdict by suggesting to Egyptian residents that their revolution achieved something. Judge Ahmed Refaat took a similar posture when delivering Mubarak's verdict. He praised the revolution, spoke of a dawn after 30 years of darkness under Mubarak. In state media television and radio broadcasts, it is only being announced that Mubarak was sentenced - and nothing of the acquittals.
Mubarak and his two sons also faced corruption charges, for which they were not pronounced guilty on the grounds that the charges fell under the statute of limitations.
Mubarak's followers were upset with the outcome as well. They include Kariman el-Sherif, a woman waiting for the verdict with a Mubarak amulet around her neck and a sign bearing the former president's image. She still refers to him as the president of Egypt, sometimes even as a father.
"Our country will go downhill without the president," she said. "The verdict cannot be just."
Tears from Mubarak
The former president also balked at the verdict. After he was flown from the court to Tora prison, he refused to exit the helicopter and cried, a security official said. The official added that Mubarak's health has further declined, and he must be treated. The ex-leader's lawyer as well as some of the plaintiffs have already announced they will appeal the decision.
The verdict in Cairo comes at a politically sensitive moment in Egypt. In two weeks, the country goes to the polls in a run-off vote to elect a new president, choosing between Modhammed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, and Ahmed Shafiq, formerly prime minister under Mubarak. Shafiq could stand to profit from the court's ruling.
"It's a lesson for every future president," he wrote Saturday on social networking website Twitter.
Shafiq has to hope that liberal voters - likely to be a decisive force in the election - who are afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood will vote for him in the belief that Egyptian presidents will be held accountable.
Protests on Tahrir Square
But Hazin Gomar, father of Hussein who died in the revolution, is now more angry than ever.
"If I had a gun, I'd take care of things myself," he said. "How can my soul, or my son's soul, rest as long as there is no justice? Why are the murderers free?"
Along with other revolutionaries, he says he is now out to convince Egyptians that the rendering of Mubarak's sentence does not represent a historic moment. It is the first time that a president in the Arab world has stood trial since Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death. However, only the head of the regime is being punished. And in the hope that the next leader will not be drawn from Mubarak's inner circle, Hazin Gomar is returning to Tahrir Square immediately to protest.
Author: Viktoria Kleber / gsw Editor: Gregg Benzow
Source: Deutsche Welle
Mali rebels fail to agree on new country
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31 May 2012
Mali rebels fail to agree on new country
An alliance between two rebel groups in northern Mali, who jointly fought government troops, is facing increasing strain as differences over sharia law and human rights become apparent.
Negotiations between two rebel groups in northern Mali, who signed an initial agreement to merge and create a new Islamic state in the region, are running into difficulties.
{sidebar id=11 align=right}The National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (NMLA) is a separatist group fighting for independence. The other group, Ansar Dine, is linked to al-Qaeda and wants to impose an extreme form of Islam on Mali. Both took over Mali's northern half last March when a coup in the distant capital Bamako caused disorder in the country.
The two groups had fought together against government soldiers before then, but there has been rivalry between them since they gained control of major towns. Fighters have occupied different parts of each city and sometimes compete over whose flag should fly on key buildings.
Less than a week ago the two groups agreed in principle to merge and to create a transitional council and an army of the "Islamic State of Azawad", a word the Tuareg people use for northern Mali. "We don't accept sharia law"
Since that agreement, talks on a final declaration have stalled. NMLA says it does not want to see a strict form of Islamic law imposed in any new state and is worried about Ansar Dine's links with an al-Qaida affiliate known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). This terror cell is responsible for dozens of kidnappings in the region and attacks on Western targets.
NMLA spokesman Mossa Ag Attaher told the AP news agency from France "We don't accept sharia law. That's never what we wanted."
There were also problems linked to how the region would be governed. The NMLA wants the new state to ratify UN conventions dealing with human rights, which Ansar Dine seems to be resisting.
Meanwhile the African Union is planning to refer the situation in Mali to the UN Security Council so it could create a framework for tackling the worsening crisis. A source close to Thomas Boni Yayi, the Benin president and head of the African Union, said it wasn't clear when this would be done. On Tuesday, the new French President Francois Hollande urged African leaders to ask the Security Council to help restore stability to the region.
Author: Mark Caldwell (AP, rtr)
Editor: Daniel Pelz
Source: Deutsche Welle
Diamond Jubilee celebrations kick off around UK
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Diamond Jubilee celebrations kick off around UK
Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations have officially begun with a 41-gun salute at the Horse Guards Parade in central London, marking the exact anniversary of her coronation.
The 86-year-old monarch was given a rapturous reception as a flag-waving crowd of more than 130,000 welcomed her to Epsom racecourse at the start of celebrations commemorating her 60-year reign. She was accompanied by royal family members, including her sons Prince Andrew and Prince Edward and Andrew's daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
{sidebar id=11}Race-goers were treated to an aerial display of the British Army's Red Devils parachute team as they trailed huge Union Jack flags and red smoke across the sky.
Despite a forecast of damp, cool weather for the long weekend, hundreds of thousands of people were expected to participate in the celebrations, including street parties. On Sunday a 1,000-boat flotilla down the River Thames is planned along with an open-air concert in front of Buckingham Palace. International acts including Elton John and Paul McCartney are set to take to the stage.
Anti-monarchist group Republic are planning a protest as the Queen heads the 1,000 strong flotilla on Sunday.
A religious service at St. Peter's Cathedral and a carriage procession through the streets of London are among the events that will mark the end of the Jubilee celebrations on Tuesday.
Prime Minister David Cameron, the 12th leader to have served during the queen's reign, paid tribute to her "extraordinary level of physical energy, mental energy, and - above all - devotion to her people, to the institutions of this country, to the way our democracy works."
British politicians from the country's three main parties are backing a motion which has called for the tower housing Big Ben, the world's most photographed clock, to be named in honor of the queen. A turtle farm in the Cayman Islands says it is freeing a 60-year-old turtle in celebration of the queen's 60 years on the throne.
Religious leaders and writers have used the Jubilee to reflect on the changes Britain has gone through since the monarch's coronation, from a war-wounded imperial power to a middle-sized power with significant cultural influence.
Queen Elizabeth began her reign in 1952 when her father, King George VI passed away. Her coronation took place one year later in June, 1953.
jlw/rc (AFP, Reuters, AP)
Source: Deutsche Welle
Rawlings: Governments Need to provide Space for Constructive Opposition
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Conflict
Rawlings: Governments Need to provide Space for Constructive Opposition
Ghana’s former President, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings has criticized the politics of the opposition being seen as an enemy, stating democracy is about providing space to the opposition.
He said: “In the politics of some countries, you are either a political friend or an enemy; there are no shades of grey in between.
“This sort of mindset is exacerbated by the mentality – and the actual experience in so many instances – of ‘winner takes all’. Democracy is about losers having political space, and the genuine opportunity to win back power at the next electoral test.”
President Rawlings made these remarks on Monday at the opening ceremony of a workshop on ‘Government and Opposition’ organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Speaking to an audience of parliamentarians, political party leaders and civil society, the former President said politics involved the striking of balances and compromises between the Executive and the judiciary, between the Executive and the Legislature and between the judiciary and the legislature.
{sidebar id=10 align=right}Democracy, the former President noted, “does not come with one or two elections, it does not grow overnight. Further, democracy cannot just be about rhetoric. It must have meaning, strong foundations and vibrant institutions. It must be inclusive and touch the lives of people.”
In a paper delivered to the workshop on the same day, President Rawlings charged parliamentarians to acknowledge that they have a responsibility to be selfless advocates, represent the truth, exercise utmost humility, and be ready to sow seeds of social, political, economic and cultural development for their people and country.
Speaking on the topic, ‘Government and Opposition: Roles and Responsibilities’, President Rawlings said parliamentary independence had been devalued by the overriding influence of political parties who tend to tele-guide every decision of members of parliament.
He said: “Indeed examples abound on the continent where an MP who goes contrary to the dictates of his party is ‘hounded’ out through the party’s sponsorship of another candidate when elections are due.
“I am not in any way advocating that we do away with the authority of the party. I am rather calling on our political parties and the Executive to respect the individual right of legislators to take responsible decisions on behalf of their constituents.”
The former President noted that if Parliamentarians draw their remuneration, research resources and other official funding direct from an independent, non-partisan structure it would encourage them to operate more independently and proactively.
Constructive, opposition President Rawlings noted is characterized by organized opposition that points out coherently the shortcomings of the Government of the day whilst offering practical alternatives to the electorate and wider group of citizens.
“The role of the opposition is to assist in finding a solution to national problems, not to compound them. They must not simply agree with the Government’s view. But in the absence of an agreement they must not be unnecessarily disruptive either of the search for a consensus on issues,” the former President said.
Touching on government’s responsibilities, President Rawlings said all governments must recognise that their mandate derives from the people whom they govern and that in the delegation of authority, or the protection of rights and freedoms, they should scrupulously uphold the tenets of the constitution, which specifies the limits of their power and authority and defends the rights of the citizenry.
The former President also said: “Democracy will thrive in an environment where the growth of civil society is unimpeded and encouraged. This involves encouraging the flow of ideas; data and opinions from such identified bodies, which span a wide and disparate spectrum.
“Civil Society also has an obligation not be partisan and should at all times desist from covertly or overtly exhibiting signs of partisanship – a creeping culture that is better exhibited in Ghana where many civil society organisations seem to be affiliated to either government or opposition and end up confusing the electorate with their conflicting analysis of the political and economic reality,” he stated.
By J.J. Rawlings
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