World

Want to See Mubarak Defend Himself From a Cage During TV Trial?

CAIRO (The Blaze/AP) — An ailing, 83-year-old Hosni Mubarak, lying ashen-faced on a hospital bed inside a metal defendants cage with his two sons standing protectively beside him in white prison uniforms, pleaded innocent to charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters at the start of his historic trial on Wednesday. Below, watch the trial’s opening moments:

The spectacle, aired live on state television, was the biggest humiliation for Egypt’s former president since his ouster nearly six months ago after an 18-day uprising. But it went a long way to satisfy one of the key demands that has united protesters since Feb. 11, the day he was toppled.

It was the first time Egyptians have seen Mubarak since Feb. 10, when he gave a defiant TV address refusing to resign.

“I am delighted that I see them in a cage. I feel that my son’s soul is finally starting to be at rest and that his blood will cool,” said Saeeda Hassan Abdel-Raouf, the mother of 22-year-old protester who was among those killed in the uprising. She and hundreds of victims’ relatives and other Mubarak opponents massed outside the trial venue at a Cairo police academy.

In the courtroom, a prosecutor read the charges against Mubarak – that he was an accomplice along with this then-interior minister in the “intentional and premeditated murder of peaceful protesters” and that he and his sons received gifts from a prominent businessman in return for guaranteeing him a lowered price in a land deal with the state.

“Yes, I am here,” Mubarak said, raising his hand slightly when the judge asked him to identify himself and enter a plea. “I deny all these accusations completely,” he said.

Outside the police academy, protesters watching the proceedings on a giant screen shouted in derision, “Then who did it?” Some waved their shoes at the screen in a show of contempt.

The Mubarak opponents scuffled sporadically with angry supporters of the ousted president, throwing stones and bottles at each other while riot police with shields and helmets tried to keep them apart. About 50 supporters pounded on the steel gate trying to get into the compound, chanting “We Love you, Mubarak!” until police charged at the with electrified batons and dispersed them.

The clashes were a sign of the profound emotions stirred by the unprecedented prosecution of the man who ruled Egypt with unquestioned power for 29 years.

For many Egyptians, the trial is a chance at retribution for decades of oppressive rule in which opponents were tortured, corruption was rife, poverty spread and political life was stifled. But for others, Mubarak was a symbol of stability.

Mubarak was wheeled into the defendant’s cage on a hospital bed, a sheet pulled up to his chest. Though he was pale and his eyes were ringed with red, he appeared alert and aware of what was going on. He showed little discernible emotion. With him in the cage were his nine co-defendants, including his two sons – one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa – his former interior minister Habib el-Adly, and six top former police officials.

From time to time, Mubarak craned his head to see the proceedings. Other times, he crooked his elbow over his face as if in exhaustion. While the other defendants sat on wooden benches in the cage, Gamal and Alaa in their white prison uniforms stood next to their father’s bed, at one point with their arms crossed on their chest seemingly trying to block the court camera’s view of their father. The two sons each carried a copy of the Quran and leaned over to talk to their father.

Defendants are traditionally held in cages during trials in Egypt. About an hour after the session began, there was a recess and the defendants were led out of the cage. Much of the session dealt with procedural matters, as the three-judge panel officially took the names of the lawyers involved in the case and heard motions from them.

Up to the last minute, many Egyptians had doubted that Mubarak would actually appear at the trial. It was inconceivable that the man who vowed to rule the country until his last breath and who kept a near total grip on the levers of power, whose name once crowned public buildings around the country, could actually be brought to trial.

There was skepticism that he would show up at the trial up until the moment early Wednesday when Mubarak was taken from his hospital room in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to a military plane that flew him to a military airport in Cairo. From there, he was transferred by helicopter to the police academy where the trial was held.

Mubarak has been living in Sharm since he was ousted and has been under arrest in a hospital there since April, reportedly suffering from heart problems. Doctors have reported that he is growing increasingly depressed.

Mostafa el-Naggar, one of the leading youth activists who organized the anti-Mubarak uprising, called it “a moment no Egyptian ever thought was possible.”

“I have many feelings. I am happy, satisfied. I feel this a real success for the revolution, and I feel that the moment of real retribution is near,” he told The Associated Press.

The courtroom itself was divided. Relatives of the defendants sat in rows of seats near the defendants cage, made of iron bars and mesh. A fence running through the middle of the chamber divided them from the rest of the audience of around 300 people, including a few relatives of protesters killed in the uprising, kept far enough that they cannot shout or throw anything at the former leader.

The Mubarak supporters outside were furious over the humiliation of their former leader, throwing stones at the screen showing the session.

“We will demolish and burn the prison if they convict Mubarak,” they screamed at hundreds of police and army troops backed by armored personnel carriers.

“He is our president and he is going to be found innocent,” said one woman in the crowd, Tahami Luteifi.

The trial came only after heavy pressure by activists on the now ruling military – one of the few demands that still unites the disparate protest movement. It answers, at least partially, a growing clamor in Egypt for justice not only for the wrongs of Mubarak’s authoritarian regime but also for the violent suppression of the largely peaceful uprising, in which 850 protesters were killed.

In February, as protests raged around him, Mubarak vowed he would die on Egyptian soil. The last time Egyptians saw him, he appeared on state TV, handing most of his powers to his vice president but refusing to resign. He proclaimed he was “adamant to continue to shoulder my responsibility.”

The next day, his resignation was announced and Mubarak fled to a palatial residence in Sharm el-Sheikh. The ruling generals who took power from him – and who were all appointed by Mubarak before the uprising – appeared reluctant to prosecute him, but protests flared anew, pressuring action.

In April, Mubarak was moved to a Sharm el-Sheikh hospital and put under arrest while his sons and former cronies were held in Cairo’s Torah Prison.

The prosecution is an unprecedented moment in the Arab world, the first time a modern Mideast leader has been put on trial fully by his own people.

The closest event to it was former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s trial, but his capture came at the hands of U.S. troops in 2003 and his special tribunal was set up with extensive consultation with American officials and international experts. Tunisia’s deposed president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, has been tried and convicted several times since his fall several weeks before Mubarak’s, but all in absentia as he remains in exile in Saudi Arabia.

Mubarak, el-Adly, and six top police officers are charged in connection with the killings of protesters. All eight could face the death penalty if convicted. The charge sheet said that Mubarak “allowed (el-Adly) to use live ammunition” in the crackdown on protesters.

Separately, Mubarak and his two sons face charges of corruption. According to the prosecutors, the father and sons received five villas worth nearly $7 million from prominent businessman Hussein Salem in return for using their influence to get him a lower price for state land to build a resort complex in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protesters, a dozen people swarmed around newspapers at a stand, reading headlines about the trial. One man spit on a picture of Mubarak on a front page.

“When he is in the cage and we know he is there, then we know we have started to put our feet on the path of justice,” said the newspaper seller, Nabil Hassan, 65. “If he and his accomplices are in court, he becomes one of the people no different from anyone else facing justice. I have faith in Egyptian judges.”

Comments (35)

  • drybackinpi
    Posted on August 4, 2011 at 1:15pm

    I sure hope he’s shackeled too…I’d hate to see him get loose. Oy Vey

    Report Post » drybackinpi  
  • Cold War Vet
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 2:33pm

    I’d like to see Obama in a cage match against Mubarak. Mubarak would win.

    Report Post » Cold War Vet  
    • I support God's Israel!
      Posted on August 3, 2011 at 4:33pm

      I don’t like Dictators, like Mubarak and Obama, but I certainly wouldn’t put them in a cage, just handcuffs and they would get a fair trial. What has our society and the world’s society become but worse than the people they complain about.

      Obama should have been IMPEACHED BY NOW and I am not sure why he has not. I just don’t understand this.

      Report Post » I support God's Israel!  
    • theothertoolbox
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 7:59am

      @Israel – They aren’t going to impeach Obummer because that would trigger a flood of “youths” stealing TVs and beating “Whitey” just because. Oh, wait, that is already happening. Seriously, impeaching this fraud would most likely cause a race war.

      Report Post » theothertoolbox  
    • ACLUHater
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 3:05pm

      Impeachment is only a dream. But yes – the looters would be salivating.

      Report Post »  
  • Gypsy123
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 2:24pm

    This man was set up and the traitors in the USA know who they are . It was for the muslim brotherhood to take over EGYPT. So there is a sick old man who probably was guilty of some form of abuse but nothing like what is coming Watch out Israel

    Report Post » Gypsy123  
    • Mary M. Tebbe
      Posted on August 4, 2011 at 8:21pm

      gypsy123: You can bet that the 60′s radicals, Obama’s friends, and those connected to Obama’s administration had everything to do with bringing down Hosni Mubarak, and ushering in the Muslim Brotherhood, leaving Egypt in worse shape than it was in, in the first place. The cage is meant to humiliate our former friend and ally, who had helped to stabilize the Middle East and offer protection for the State of Israel.
      We live in perilous times. These communists, socialists, marxist, progressives in Obama’s administration are reeking havoc on this Country and the world, purposefully. The outcome remains to be seen, and the future of these radicals…well, only time will tell how history judges them. You can be sure that the youth of today and the children yet unborn will one day hold these people, bent on destroying this Country, accountable for what they did, because it will be these young people that will have to pay the highest price for something they did not have a hand in. I pray I live long enough to see the result of their anger at those that did the dirty work, and those that stood by and did absolutely nothing to stop them.

      Report Post » Mary M. Tebbe  
  • I SPY
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 2:04pm

    This is the future for Obama as well after Nov. 2012, along with many others in Washington as we speak. It will be a historically victorious day in American history and generations will speak about it for centuries.

    Report Post » I SPY  
  • EqualJustice
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:28pm

    The Muslim Brotherhodd wil behead him right after they take control of the counrty.. wait, have they done that already? The “take over” part?

    Report Post » EqualJustice  
  • paperpushermj
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:47am

    LET THIS BE A WARNING:
    Being a friend of the United States is not Healthy.

    Report Post » paperpushermj  
  • affinnity
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:52am

    I don’t understand the purpose of the cage.

    Report Post » affinnity  
  • worthless
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:14am

    This guy kept the “bad” muslims at bay. He hated the Palestinians more than he hated the Jews. He actually brought peace to the region and that’s why every president since this “wise one” has left him alone, He basically destroyed the Muslim Brotherhood.

    Now, Obama goes in there and gets this guy out and guess who gets to step up to power? The Muslim Brotherhood.

    If that doesn‘t tell you where obama’s loyalties lie, then you have drunk too much of the kool-aid.

    Report Post » worthless  
    • Cold War Vet
      Posted on August 3, 2011 at 2:32pm

      I imagine Obama with George Soros’ arm up his butt, working him like a ventriloquist dummy!
      We’ve never had a president who flat-out hates America as much as this guy!

      Report Post » Cold War Vet  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 10:02am

    He should have gotten out when he still could. He may have ruled with an iron fist but, that’s what those peopl need. Look at Iraq, there were no suicide bombers when Saddam was running the show.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
  • Norma Perez
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 9:37am

    This is despicable and WesleyApril, something is NOT right here, it stinks to high heaven. Whether it’s the folks over there, or the vermin in Washington DC, something is NOT right. Mubarak has been a long time friend of the U.S. and Israel. With Mubarak out of the way, Israel becomes an open target. Nobody is watching or paying any attention to what Hillary Clinton is doing. She’s been running around the ME back and forth, from one country to another? Something is being stirred, and it isn’t chicken soup. It’s a brew only a wicked witch knows how to stir, and that ain’t good.

    Report Post »  
  • ProbIemSoIver
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 9:14am

    Tell them we need to borrow the cage in America after they are done with it.

    Report Post » ProbIemSoIver  
  • rabblechat
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 9:10am

    It’s not just Mubarak on trial; America is as well….
    Remember He was one of our stanchest allies in the Arab world, He is being condemned not just for his handling of the protests but for his support for american policy.

    Report Post » rabblechat  
    • rose-ellen
      Posted on August 3, 2011 at 9:35am

      That’s right ! Welcome to the 21st c .the century of the people ,all people where being backward or empoverished does not prevent people from rising up against american backed dictators . Your superpower status does not make you immune to having to reckon with subjugation of others for greedy and unjust self serving interests.The people will have their day and are today. Long live the arab spring and the exposure of american duplicity with subjugation.So much for your lying narrative that you were just minding your own business on that glorious sept. morning.You are exposed as the lying mass murdering hypocrites you are and have always been.Those backward subjected people are having their day and your tyranical power can no longer control a billion backwad people!

      Report Post »  
    • NotFooled
      Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:05am

      Islam already hates America because we were founded under Judah Christian beliefs. Regardless of the out come of the trial, the Islamists will still hate us. I agree that every Nation has the right to govern themselves. Our American Government was set up to defend the people against the tyranny and influence of Foreign Governments. But the Progressives have another agenda and that is to destroy us from with inside and they use usefully Liberal idiots to do it. Everything that Progressive hate about America, they created. Progressives need to be weeded out of all Governments. They are the newly revived Nazi/Communist party. There’s huge Nazi movement in Egypt right now.

      Report Post » NotFooled  
    • ProbIemSoIver
      Posted on August 3, 2011 at 12:55pm

      ROSEELLEN Quit blaming the American People for the crimes of our “elected” officials. Problem is they are hand selected by the global elite, and not voted in by us. Nor, do they represent us.

      Report Post » ProbIemSoIver  
  • Ghandi was a Republican
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:51am

    Arab spring, summer of recovery, fall of the U.S. – Winter of discontent… Bye obama – Youu suhk

    Report Post » Ghandi was a Republican  
  • poorrichard09
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:41am

    Oh, this will turn out well-I’m sure.

    He’s no saint by any means, but in the eyes of the muslim brotherhood his worst offense was the treaty with Israel. Will probably be beheaded.

    Report Post »  
  • BO_Bill
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:38am

    Islam is a self-purifying form of regression. Using my magical powers, I hereby predict that Hillary will soon be spending more of my money in an attempt to keep Egypt from becoming an embarrassment to herself and her Administration.

    The real answer in the Middle East is simple: just leave. These peoples will then direct their anger towards their neighbors instead of towards us. In order to fund their exploits, oil production will be increased, dropping world oil prices just as happened during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).

    Inflation-adjusted Barrel of oil in 1980: $102.26
    Inflation-adjusted barrel of oil in 1988: $28.32

    http://www.fintrend.com/inflation/inflation_rate/Historical_Oil_Prices_Table.asp

    Report Post » BO_Bill  
  • Charles
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:34am

    And who is trying him? The muslime brotherhood! Oh isn’t that wonderful? Social justice! The arab spring! Its carters catastrophic disaster in Iran being replayed over the ENTIRE middle east. The dumbing down of our education system is paying off more than ever now. a majority of people are way too ignorant to see whats happening

    Report Post »  
  • handsoffmystuff
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:33am

    The Saudis are watching this and know Know KNOW that Obama would treat them the same way as he treated them. The entire Middle East will very soon be what Jimmy Carter was only able to accomplish in Iran.

    Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:21am

    Do I want to see an old man in a cage being tried? No.

    Do I want to see Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Hillary, Napoletano, Holder and the czars in a cage? Yes, and put them all in the same one while seperate trials are going on; with Gingrich speaking on and on and on just outside of it as his speeches are piped directly, and only into, the sound proof cage…sound proofed so the rest of us do not have to listen to the insane screaming from within.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • wesleyapril
      Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:33am

      Snow,

      I love your idea – and how about Ben Stein? You know how he drones on and on and on…….lol.

      Report Post »  
  • joe3
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:16am

    id love to see obama, reid, boehner, mcconnel, clinton, all in a cage just like that.

    Report Post »  
  • repup
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:11am

    Wow, sometimes it sucks to be the king

    Report Post »  
    • wesleyapril
      Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:20am

      Did they try Charles Mason in a cage? Did they try any mass murderer, or Sadaam Hussein in a cage? Something is not right with these folks – and I don’t think Mubarak was as bad, or is as bad as half the leaders in the middle east. NO I am not a Muslime – but I speak the truth – on this one.

      Report Post »  
    • rose-ellen
      Posted on August 3, 2011 at 11:00am

      Of course you don’t think he was as bad as other dictators.out of sight ,out of mind.What’s a little murder and torture if done by our dictator! And you said that about saddam husein when the world was condeming his murder of the kurds but because we liked his warriing with iran.a little mass murder there was okay by us too.Till we wanted to invade and resurrected the worlds indignaation against him when it now suited our need for a new military base and perrhaps oil suppys as those uppity saudi freedom fighters were rising up via alquada and our future with cheap saudi oil was not certain but problematic;.iraq a secular dictatorship looked promising. Hypocrites-hiding behind torturers and mass murderers .Alquada undestood you as do the egyptiam people and the noble muslim brotherhood.long live the arab spring and trial for all dictators whether soviet backed[syria] or american backed] Self detrermination for arabs.The world does not belong to us and neither does its people including those backward muslims!

      Report Post »  
  • 13th Imam
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:10am

    Substitute “MUBARAK” with “OBAMA” and yes.

    Gotta go get a Dunkin Donut

    Report Post » 13th Imam  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on August 3, 2011 at 8:08am

    .
    Nothing better than a good Cage Match….. Well except for mud wrestling………..

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  

Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Glenn Beck Radio

Listen to Glenn Beck 24/7 Listen Now
Restoring Love