Hosni Mubarak sentenced to life in prison for ordering troops to fire on protesters

[KeepItReal]

Source: CNN

Cairo (CNN) -- Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison Saturday after he was convicted of ordering troops to open fire on demonstrators, a verdict that saw angry protesters disrupt the proceedings.

Punches were thrown as victims' family members protested the verdict inside the court. Others stood on chairs, raising fists in the air and chanting the sentence was not enough.

Mubarak and the judge were removed from the courtroom amid the melee.

The sentence handed down by Judge Ahmed Refaat was the final chapter of Mubarak's three decade, iron rule of Egypt that was brought to an end in February 2011.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/02/world/africa/egypt-mubarak-trial/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[EFerrari]

1. People are angry because his sons were acquitted and all the interior ministry's aides as well.

ETA: The kidnapping, abuse and torture of prisoners was coordinated at the Ministry of the Interior and presumably by these MOI aides that were acquitted. Some people see this verdict as leaving the abusive infrastructure intact.

[dipsydoodle]

2. BBC link : Mubarak guilty of protest deaths

A court in Cairo has sentenced Egyptian ex-President Hosni Mubarak to life imprisonment for complicity in the killing of demonstrators during last year's uprising.

The 84-year-was convicted after a 10-month trial in a special court.

Mubarak is the first former leader to be tried in person since the start of the Arab Spring in early 2011.

The judge suspended the session as shouting and scuffles erupted in court after the verdict was read out.

Mubarak, who ruled the country for 30 years, had faced a possible death sentence over the killing of about 850 protesters by security forces last year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18306126

[EFerrari]

3. Some activists I read point out that the next president can pardon him

if the case stays in a court of appeal.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Depending of course

on who th next Pres turns out to be. I can't really see the Bro doing that.

[EFerrari]

5. Some people think there will be appeals and retrials.

Folks heading out to Tahrir right now. Oh, and apparently there is another corruption case against the two sons.

[EFerrari]

6. Some of the families of the protesters who were killed

are denouncing the verdicts in Tahrir Square.

[dotymed]

7. One of America's strongest M.E. allies for decades.

During the Iraq war and for many decades, "our" government has been outsourcing torture to this regime. Is it any wonder that America has so many enemies? They don't "hate us for our freedoms."
They hate us for our treachery.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Now reporting he 'suffered a "health crisis"' on the way to prison - heart attack, apparently

BBC link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18306126

[dipsydoodle]

9. I think if I was 84 and got life

I'd have a heart attack too.

Better learn to behave myself I guess.

[freshwest]

13. I don't know about that behaving oneself. Breitbart was big on that and look how he ended up.

LOL at your comment. That was a good one. Yes, we should all act a little better.

[valerief]

10. I wish we could do that in the U.S. nt

[maddezmom]

11. Protests Erupt in Egypt Following Mubarak Sentencing

Protests Erupt in Egypt Following Mubarak Sentencing

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's life prison sentence for complicity in the killings of anti-government protesters has failed to appease some Egyptians who have taken to the streets in protest.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in cities including Cairo and Alexandria on Saturday after Mubarak and former interior minister Habib al-Adly were convicted for their roles in the 2011 killings of hundreds of protesters, but six ex-police commanders were acquitted.

The court also acquitted Mubarak and his sons, Gamal and Alaa, of corruption charges.

Prosecutors had called for the death penalty for Mubarak, the only leader toppled in the Arab Spring uprisings to be tried in his own country.

more: http://www.voanews.com/content/protests-erupt-in-egypt-following-mubarak-sentencing/1146372.html

[EFerrari]

12. Contrary to the OP's CNN headline, Mubarak was not convicted or sentenced for ordering those deaths.

He was convicted of failing to intervene to stop them.

So, essentially the court held no one responsible for ordering the deaths of those protesters. Everyone got off in that respect.

[oberliner]

14. CNN has since changed the headline

It now reads:

Egypt's Hosni Mubarak sentenced to life in prison for role in killing of protesters

[EFerrari]

15. Arab Spring: Egyptians march in outrage

By MUHAMMAD LILA and OLIVIA KATRANDJIAN | ABC News

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/pM0aQGbIRKNx335BsYGkfQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MjE4NTtjcj0xO2N3PTMyNTU7ZHg9MDtkeT0wO2ZpPXVsY3JvcDtoPTQyMztxPTg1O3c9NjMw/

Thousands gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Saturday, and many hours later they were still chanting that the revolution is back and the military government needs to go, creating speculation that the Arab Spring has returned.

The crowds gathered Saturday after a court sentenced Hosni Mubarak, the embattled and ailing former ruler who led Egypt with an iron first for 30 years, to life in prison for his role in the killing of more than 800 protesters who were demanding he step down. The charges carried a possible death sentence, but the judge chose life imprisonment instead.

There were celebrations in the streets when the verdict was announced, but it was short-lived, as protesters learned of the mixed verdict: While Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison, he and his two sons were acquitted of corruption charges.

Other senior government officials were acquitted, leaving no one found guilty of ordering the deaths of protesters last year.

http://news.yahoo.com/egyptians-march-outrage-over-former-ruler-mubaraks-life-161748940--abc-news-topstories.html

[EFerrari]

16. Tahrir

via Hossam @3arabawy (who has been an amazing chronicler of the revolution, btw).