Egypt’s Mubarak Absent From Trial On Health Grounds

Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak has failed to appear in the Sunday court session of his lengthy trial over involvement in the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolution that toppled him.

The ailing former leader broke his femur when he sustained a fall nearly three weeks ago at a Cairo military hospital, where he is being held. His lawyer Farid El-Deeb said at the time that the fall had left his client in “a very unstable condition” and that he would undergo “major surgery.”

A hospital report provided by prosecutors during the Sunday hearing said the ex-president’s state prevented him from presenting himself at the court in the Police Academy on the eastern outskirts of Cairo.

The 86-year-old is being retried over complicity in the killing of about 850 unarmed protesters during the 2011 revolt that ended his 30-year reign. He was found guilty in June 2012 and sentenced to life imprisonment, but his conviction was overturned in January 2013 due to procedural failings and a retrial began in April 2013.

Last August, the ex-president — who had been detained for nearly two years since shortly after his deposal — was granted release and placed under house arrest at Cairo’s Maadi Hospital.

He was convicted of graft in May, and given a three-year jail term, but has not been transferred to prison.

Given his failing health, the former leader is likely to serve his sentence in the hospital.

Mubarak’s two sons, Alaa and Gamal, were also convicted of corruption, each receiving a four-year jail sentence.

Source : Ahram online