Egypt court drops murder charge against Mubarak

CAIRO — An Egyptian court dismissed Saturday a murder charge against ousted president Hosni Mubarak over the deaths of protesters during a 2011 uprising, sparking celebrations among supporters but fury from opponents of the former strongman.

Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades until he was toppled in a popular revolt, was also acquitted of a corruption charge but will remain in detention because he is serving a three-year sentence in a separate graft case.

Seven of his security commanders, including the feared former interior minister Habib Al Adly, were acquitted in connection with the deaths of some of the roughly 800 people killed during the revolt.

Cheers broke out in the courtroom and Mubarak's two sons kissed his forehead when the judge read out the verdict in the retrial as the ex-president, 86, lay in an upright stretcher inside the caged dock.

But relatives of those killed expressed dismay.

Dozens of protesters later gathered at an entrance to Cairo's Tahrir Square — the hub of the anti-Mubarak revolt — chanting: "The people demand the toppling of the regime."

Earlier in court, the usually stone-faced Mubarak, wearing his trademark shades, allowed himself a faint smile after the verdict was read.

Corruption charges against his sons, Alaa and Gamal, were also dropped.

An appeals court had overturned an initial life sentence for Mubarak in 2012 on a technicality. Saturday's verdict may also be appealed.

Mubarak was later transported back to a Cairo military hospital where he is serving his sentence, appearing in a wheelchair from a balcony door to wave at several dozen cheering supporters.

“I did nothing wrong at all,” he told an Egyptian private broadcaster over the phone from his hospital.

He praised his own 30-year rule, which was marred by police abuses and corruption, especially the decade before his overthrow.

Apparently referring to economic growth, he said: “The last 10 years showed more results than the 20 years before... and then they turned against us.”

His lawyer Farid Al Deeb told AFP that the verdict was “a good ruling that proved the integrity of Mubarak’s era”.

Many Egyptians increasingly look to the former autocrat’s stable era with nostalgia in light of the turmoil that followed.

His Islamist successor Mohamed Morsi was toppled by the army himself in 2013 following massive protests.

Mubarak’s supporters leapt out of their benches in celebration when the judge pronounced the verdict, chanting: “Say the truth, don’t be scared — Mubarak is innocent.”

In a summary of its reasoning, the court cited witnesses — all former security commanders — saying the police did not use live ammunition against protesters during the deadliest day of the 2011 revolt.

‘Oppressive ruling’ 

Outside the court venue, a sprawling police academy on Cairo’s outskirts, relatives of those killed in the revolt were appalled at the verdict.

“It’s an oppressive ruling. The blood of my son has been wasted,” said Mostafa Morsi, whose son was killed outside a police station during the uprising.

In the streets of Cairo, opinion was divided on the outcome.

“Justice for the martyrs has been lost,” said one woman in her 50s.

Others disagreed. “There is no evidence against Mubarak. He was an honest president,” said Mostafa Saed, a retired government worker.

Protesters at the time of the revolt vented years of pent-up fury over police abuses and corruption by attacking and torching stations across the country, leaving the interior ministry on the brink of collapse.

Chief Judge Mahmud Kamel Al Rashidi, 63, suggested his ruling was made with a clear conscience.

“God will ask me what did you do in this world, and specifically what did you do as a judge,” he told the court before pronouncing his verdict.

He said he dropped the murder charge against Mubarak because the prosecution should not have added him to the case initially made against his security chiefs.

During the uprising, hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied daily demanding Mubarak step down.

But once-banished Mubarak-era officials have since made a comeback, using a backlash against former opposition figures blamed for the subsequent tumult.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab was a senior official in Mubarak’s now-dissolved party. Mubarak’s former military intelligence chief Abdel Fattah Al Sisi is now president, having won an election after deposing Morsi last year.

Police are waging a deadly crackdown on pro-Morsi Islamist protesters and militants, while Morsi is standing trial in several cases including taking part in jail breaks and violence during the anti-Mubarak revolt.