Officials Accused of Lying to Protect Former Egyptian President Mubarak

By Katherine Weber, Christian Post Reporter Monday, January 09, 2012

The court case of Egypt’s ousted ex-President Hosni Mubarak continued Monday as attorney Amir Salem accused the head of the ruling military council and the former vice president of lying to the court to protect Mubarak.

Salem, representing the families of the victims killed in the February protests, accused Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and former Vice President Omar Suleiman of lying to the court during their testimonies.

Lawyers prosecuting Mubarak have taken no leeway on the former dictator, who was considered by many to have led the country in an authoritarian manner.

The prosecution has reportedly interviewed 2,000 witnesses, including police officers who said they received orders to arm their troops with live rounds to be used against protesters.

When the prosecution opened last Tuesday, head prosecuting lawyer Mustafa Suleiman referred to Mubarak as a “tyrannical leader who sought to hand power to his younger son Gamal, who spread corruption in the country and opened the door to his friends and relatives, ruining the country without any accountability."

Mubarak has attended his court proceedings while lying in a hospital gurney. Heart problems have caused the former president to take rest in a military hospital outside of Cairo.

Mubarak, 83, is being accused of complicity in the killing of about 850 protesters during the early days leading up to the Jan. 25 revolution, during which the president was ousted from power.

Field Marshal Tantawi testified in a closed court proceeding, and allegedly did not connect Mubarak to the killings. He and Suleiman worked for multiple decades as senior advisors to Mubarak.

Also on trial is the country’s former interior minister, Habib El Adly, and six of Mubarak’s aides for complicity in the killing of protesters. Mubarak’s two sons have been charged with corruption in the same case.

Both civil rights lawyers and prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Mubarak on Monday, although analysts familiar with the case doubt the ex-president will be executed as a result of his alleged transgressions.