Mubarak gets life sentence
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was on Saturday sentenced to life in prison for complicity in the killing of protesters during last year’s uprising.
The 84-year-old is the first former leader to be tried in person since the start of the Arab Spring in early 2011.
Former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly also received a life sentence over the deaths of demonstrators.
Mubarak and his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, were acquitted on separate charges of corruption.
Shouting and scuffles erupted in court after the verdict was read out.
Correspondents say this was caused by the court’s decision to acquit four senior aides to Adly, who are also widely blamed for the death of protesters.
Outside the building, Mubarak’s sentencing was greeted by jubilant chants from relatives of those killed during the uprising.
Soha Saeed, the wife of one of the victims, shouted: “I’m so happy. I’m so happy.”
However the joy soon turned into angry shouts as the crowd learnt that the former interior minister’s aides had been cleared.
Judge Ahmed Refaat insisted the 10-month trial had been a fair one, and said Egyptian people had suffered 30 years of darkness under Mubarak’s rule.
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.
Despite their acquittal, Alaa and Gamal Mubarak are to remain in detention.
On Wednesday, prosecutors said they would go on trial with seven others on charges of stock market manipulation.—BBC
