Dear All
Six months ago he ruled Egypt with absolute power, the Lord and Master of all he surveyed.
Then the Arab Spring happened, poor people sick to death of poverty, lack of food, lack of employment, poor housing and living in an anti democratic country.
Now, from ruler Hosni Mubarak is in a cage, the highlight of an extraordinary show trial having to be wheeled into court on a hospital trolley.
Some people comment that he is broken and humiliated.
The 83-year-old is said to have stomach cancer and is denying charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters who stood up and said enough is enough.
As well as him standing trial, both his sons are also standing in the dock alongside him as well, their hair cropped and wearing white prison uniforms which matched their father’s.
A million miles away from the life of absolute luxury they once knew.
For the first time Egyptians have seen Mubarak, as he really is, stripped of his power over life, death and torture.
After fleeing the capital, he went to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, a popular holiday resort of Egypt.
Changed days from the time he gave his defiant TV address refusing to resign before he was forced from office in February.
Forced out by the people, and people can make a difference if they take to the streets and bring the country to a stand still.
For many Egyptians, this show trial is something to savour, the downfall of the man who ruled brutally by force with unquestioned power for 29 years.
Secret Police and Torture backed by the military.
However, the army at present is in charge of Egypt, and free and fair elections haven’t happened yet.
But the trial is a start, but it is the wrong start, if we think back to Iraq and Saddam, he had his show trial which was a joke, a staging post to him being murdered by proxy, our American cousins wrongly turned him over to the wrong people.
It should have been the criminal court at The Hague.
Mubarak if found guilty will probably be executed, and it then follows both his sons will die too.
The charge against him is ordering the killing of protesters, 850 died during the uprising, this carries the death penalty.
Mubarak in reply said:
“‘I deny all these accusations completely”.
But 850 people were killed, that is a fact.
The trial will continue but the verdict is already written, just as it was for Saddam.
Death!
For other countries like Syria and Libya who are also experiencing people power, they will be looking at this trial with nervousness.
They are in the same position as Mubarak, unpopular with few friends, and the Western powers are hedging their bets, although they have come out against Gaddafi.
It is probably a good idea that Hosni Mubarak concentrates on his defence, but it is highly unlikely that he will get off.
And even if he did and was exiled, who would take him, everyone will be trying to climb into bed with the new regime.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
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