Africa

Africa

Egypt sets June 2 to announce verdict for Mubarak

23 February 2012 00:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Egyptian Judge Ahmed Refaat on Wednesday set June 2 as the date to deliver the verdict for ex- President Hosni Mubarak, former interior minister Habib Adly and his six aides, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The president and the other defendants are accused of killing protesters and corruption.

Wednesday was the last day of hearing for the trial. When Refaat asked Mubarak to speak, the former president said he had no comment and "what my lawyer said is enough."

Mubarak’s lawyer, Farid el-Deeb submitted a document to the judge in Mubarak’s name, reports said.

Adly spent almost two hours talking about the foreign elements who he believed to be the true murderers of the protesters.

The former police chief defended himself and the police sector, saying that foreign hands have exploited the situation and shot the protesters from the rooftops of the buildings, official MENA news agency reported.

"An organized plot targeted Egypt in cooperation with agents inside," added Adly. He said the protesters started the demonstrations peacefully until foreign saboteurs exacerbated the situation, burnt the police stations, broke into the prisons, causing damages in the public and private facilities.

"Our police forces used only internationally recognized methods to handle the protests," added Adly.

Egypt’s Attorney General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud notified on Wednesday the Cairo Criminal Court that the Tora prison hospital is ready to receive Mubarak, MENA said.

Up to now, Mubarak has been under detention at the International Medical Center since the beginning of his trial.

Refaat said he will consider the prosecution’s requests to transfer Mubarak to Tora and will issue a decision shortly.

Refaat decided to allow all media organizations to cover the verdict announcement and the Egyptian TV to broadcast it live.

Opinions were divided on the decision of the judge. Some said three months for the judge to take his decision is too long while others said it’s not enough.

Akrm Houssam, an expert in the Egyptian National Center for Middle East studies, told Xinhua the case was very complicated and three months was not enough for the judge to study it.

"The case is very difficult, the crime scene is complicated and different in all governorates, and in main squares in Egypt, the charges are many and the evidences are a lot," said Houssam. "More than 5,000 papers were submitted to the judge and they require time to get studied."

During Wednesday session, Refaat said "we have vowed that justice and truth will be our constitution."

Meantime, Hafiz Abou Saidah, lawyer and general secretary for the Egyptian organization for human rights, said "for ordinary criminal cases, it takes a month for the judge to give his final decision, but three moths for this historic and complicated case was not much".

Mahmoud Alim, member of the April 6 movement said "the decision is politically motivated and the judge should consider the conditions of the martyrs’ families".

"Delaying the verdict is to come with a new president who can grant Mubarak amnesty," he added. "However, the streets and the public wouldn’t accept any decision but a death sentence for Mubarak.

Houssam said he believed Egyptian courts were integral and independent and that they wouldn’t accept any pressure which could deviate the case from a fair ruling.

Granting Mubarak amnesty is the right of the new president according to the constitution, but this is an unacceptable decision for the coming president especially in the first two years, according to Houssam. He said the new president couldn’t risk his popularity with such a decision.

The trial began last August and underwent a number of sessions. The prosecutors demanded a death sentence for the ex-president.

Mubarak was forced to resign from presidency on Feb. 11, 2011 after 18 days of anti-government protests. An government-appointed committee said 846 people were killed and more than 6,000 were injured during the turmoil.