Mubarak To Face Retrial Over Protester Deaths

By Tom Rayner, Middle East News Editor in Cairo

Egypt's deposed former dictator Hosni Mubarak is due to appear in court in Cairo to face retrial on charges related to the deaths of more than 800 protesters during the uprising against his regime in 2011.

Last year, Mubarak was sentenced to life imprisonment on the same charges, which include indictments related to corruption, but after a successful appeal against his conviction in January the ruling was overturned due to failings in the prosecution case.

He will now face those charges again, alongside his former interior minister Habib El Adly and four aides, but the emerging conclusions of an independent fact-finding report, leaked to the Guardian newspaper, may bolster some of the evidence against the former president.

The report was commissioned by President Mohammed Morsi shortly after he came to power, but has yet to be officially published.

The leaked sections of the report indicate evidence that Mubarak and other senior officials may have had knowledge, or been complicit in, the widespread use of torture and killings by the regime's forces during the height of the revolution.

One member of the inquiry panel who compiled the report, Ali Hassan whose son was killed in the uprising, told Reuters that he hoped it would help the new trial, saying: "The minimum punishment for them should be death."

More than 800 died during the uprising against Mubarak

Mubarak's appearances in the initial trial were dramatic - giving testimony from a hospital stretcher wheeled into the dock, while thousands gathered outside in angry demonstrations calling for him to be held accountable for the deadly violence meted out to protesters by the authorities.

But there are signs that the retrial will not be met with similar levels of public emotion.

Egypt under the Muslim Brotherhood government of Mr Morsi has become increasingly unstable, with economic collapse compounding mounting sectarian tensions.

Attention may also be drawn away from the trial as a result of accusations in the leaked fact-finding report claiming Egypt's military in, who took control of the country after Mubarak's departure, were also responsible for mass violence against protesters.

The fact the report has yet to be published, despite apparently being submitted to Mr Morsi in January, has led some to be sceptical about the likelihood of those criticised facing justice.

Anti-Mubarak protesters in Tahrir Square

Mohammed Abdel Ayem from the International Centre for Transitional Justice said this lack of openness, along with the fact that many cases brought against other Mubarak-era officials have failed to yield convictions, has left many dismayed at the effectiveness of Egypt's stumbling justice system.

"If we look at the various pillars of transitional justice, very little has been done on any of them. The things have been done have been sporadic, haphazard," he said.

There is also likely to be much focus on Mubarak's health.

In January, he was admitted to a Cairo military hospital suffering fractured ribs and fluid on the lung after a fall in prison.

While there have been reports that his general health is improving, the frailty of the 84-year-old is likely to be apparent if he appears as expected in the courtroom, which will be broadcast live by Egyptian state television.

Mubarak's sons Gamal and Alaa will also be facing trial, charged with allegations of corruption.

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