Daily Lessons from Life 05 January 2012 - Egyptian prosecutor urges death sentence for Mubarak

"Egyptian prosecutor urges death sentence for Mubarak - AFP 05 January 2012

CAIRO: A prosecutor in Hosni Mubarak's trial on Thursday demanded the death sentence for him and his former security chief, saying the fallen Egyptian president had ordered the killings of anti-regime demonstrators.

"The law foresees the death penalty for premeditated murder," prosecutor Mustafa Khater told the court during the trial of the former president, who was toppled in a popular uprising in February.

In wrapping up the three-day case, chief prosecutor Mustafa Suleiman said for his part that "the president of the republic is responsible for protecting the people, and the question is not simply one of whether he ordered the killing of protesters, but to know why he did not intervene to stop the violence.

"How could the president of the republic not be aware of the demonstrations that broke out on January 25 in 12 places in several governorates," Suleiman added, rejecting claims that Mubarak was not informed of the seriousness of the situation.

He also argued that then interior minister Adly, who is also on trial, could "not have given the order to fire on demonstrators without having been instructed to do so by Mubarak."

Expanding on that, he said two interim ministers that followed Adly had testified that the "interior minister does not have the power to give orders to shoot, and that he cannot take such a decision without consulting with the political leadership."

During Wednesday's hearing, Suleiman said he had strong evidence against the fallen dictator in arguing that Mubarak had ordered the killings, and accused the interior ministry of hampering the case.

"The prosecution has confirmed that Mubarak, Adly and his aides assisted and incited" the shooting deaths of protesters, the official MENA news agency quoted him as saying.

But Suleiman said the "state apparatus had deliberately refused to cooperate with the prosecution" in the case.

The ailing 83-year-old former strongman is accused of involvement in the deaths of protesters during the uprising that overthrew him in February.

Mubarak is in custody in a military hospital on Cairo's outskirts, where he is being treated for a heart condition. His lawyer says he suffers from stomach cancer."

He was stretchered into the court. Once the most powerful man of the land. How sad!

Lessons for me are:

1. you can claim all the glories you want while you are in power. If the people do not hold you in such glorious light AFTER you stepped down, probably it was just a delusion!;

2. if one can picture how sad the ending can be, perhaps one may not do what would brought such sad ending to oneself?;

3. the change of 'rulers' may not be as smooth as the 'revolutionaries' think. This country just had its, again, parliamentary election. Hopefully there will NOT be any more bloodshed due to military firing upon its own citizens, brothers and sisters, parents and relatives!

Will he get death as wished for by many? Maybe. If that is what he truly deserved, he will not escape it.