Mubarak and his henchmen deserve to be treated harshly

Anything short of the death penalty for deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would not only be a travesty of justice, but would embolden those Middle Eastern leaders, such as Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, who continue to cling to power by spilling the blood of their people.

Mubarak is the face of what has been called the Arab Spring, the popular uprising in the Middle East and North Africa, and what happens in his trial will have repercussions not only in Egypt but throughout the region.

Presiding Judge Ahmed Refaat announced this week that the final verdict will be delivered on June 2. Mubarak, his former exterior minister, Habib El-Adly, and six of his aides are charged with complicity in the deadly shooting of protesters during the 18-day revolution that began in late January 2011. Eight hundred and forty-six people were killed and thousands were injured.

The uprising resulted in the 83-year-old president’s resignation Feb. 11. He was subsequently placed in custody in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-sheik.

Mubarak and his two sons were charged with abusing power to amass wealth, enriching associates and accepting bribes. Hussein Salem, a close associate and businessman, was also put on trial.

It is the first time in modern history that an Arab leader has been sent to trial solely by his own people. That’s why the eyes of the world are upon Egypt.

While Mubarak and his sons refused to take the stand to offer final statements, El-Adly addressed the court for over an hour and half, stressing that he ordered his troops not to use live ammunition against the protesters and to exercise extreme self-reliant, according to the web site, thedailynewsegypt.com.

He claimed that “foreign elements,” including members of the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, infiltrated the protesters and shot at them and at the police. The telling of the Big Lie by those who once wielded power adds insult to injury suffered by the people of Egypt during the uprising.

The refusal to tell the truth even now shows that Mubarak and his henchmen do not deserve any leniency from the court. There has been concern voiced by some members of the freedom movement that Judge Refaat will not hand down the death penalty because he has had past dealings with the Mubarak regime.

Evil individual

Life in prison for a man who was supposedly too ill to walk into the courtroom and had to brought in on his hospital bed is no punishment. The 800-plus Egyptians who were killed and the thousands who were injured deserve a verdict of death against this evil individual.

According to thedailynewsegypt.com, the interior ministry under El-Adly had often been described as “corrupt” and “infamous for torture crimes,” including the death of now iconic figures like Sayed Belal and Khaled Saeid in Alexandrai, whose brutal killing is widely recognized as one of the triggers of the January uprising.

Other former leaders of Mubarak’s ilk have received the punishment they deserved. Saddam Hussein of Iraq was put to death after a trial, while Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi was shot and killed during the popular uprising that ended his reign of terror.