Mubarak Arrested, To Be Held And Questioned For At Least 15 Days
Apr 13, 2011 Comments Off Pat Dollard
CAIRO — Former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons have been detained for 15 days for questioning about corruption and the abuse of power during Mr. Mubarak’s three-decade rule, Egyptian authorities said Wednesday.
The detention, announced by a prosecutor Mr. Mubarak had appointed before his ouster, is a breathtaking reversal for the strongman. whose grip on Egypt seemed so unshakable just three months ago that some thought he could hand over power directly to his son Gamal, who is now being held along with his brother, Alaa, in Tora Prison in Cairo.
It is also the latest twist in the unfinished story of a revolution that became the touchstone for the broader Arab Spring. The military officers who seized power after Mr. Mubarak’s ouster with a pledge to oversee a transition to democracy have cracked down with mounting force on impatient street protesters, beating and torturing nearly 200 in the last several weeks and killing two in an early morning melee on Saturday.
In a rare television interview on Monday night, representatives of the governing military council sought to blame members of Mr. Mubarak’s former ruling party for the violence, and some argued Wednesday that a recent spate of high-profile prosecutions against the Mubarak family and their allies may reflect the military’s attempt to placate protesters demanding faster change. The prosecution of Mr. Mubarak has been a rallying cry of the continuing demonstrations.
Since leaving office on Feb. 11, Mr. Mubarak, 82, has resided with his sons at the family compound in Sharm el Sheik. His whereabouts were unclear on Wednesday.
On Sunday, Egypt’s public prosecutor ordered Mr. Mubarak and his sons to be questioned in connection with a range of charges related not only to corruption but also to directing violence against protesters during the 18 day uprising that unseated the former president. More than 800 people were killed, according to Egypt’s Health Ministry.
Prosecutors had already begun questioning Mr. Mubarak on Tuesday, the state-run newspaper Al Ahram reported, when he complained of heart pain. He was taken to the hospital, but his illness was evidently mild enough that the prosecutors were able to continue questioning him Tuesday night.
Before Mr. Mubarak’s detention, the military had said only that Mr. Mubarak was restricted from leaving the country. He is now in police custody, but his precise whereabouts were not immediately clear. Detention for questioning for 15 days is a standard Egyptian legal procedure that signals prosecutors are seriously considering charges and wish to confine a suspect, and the detention is often renewed.
Word of the detentions of Mr. Mubarak’s sons inspired exuberant demonstrations in Sharm el Sheik, with a crowd of young men chanting “15 days” and “God is great” in the face of riot police standing guard as the two brothers were driven away to detention, according to amateur video footage. A crowd pelted the police van carrying the brothers with water bottles, stones and flip-flops, The Associated Press reported Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the international atomic energy watchdog who became a critic of Mr. Mubarak and now a candidate to succeed him, reacted in a Twitter message: “On the road to protecting the revolution. We now need to focus on achieving its goals.”
Perhaps aware that prosecutors were closing in on him, Mr. Mubarak late last week released his first public statement since leaving office in the form of an audio tape to the Saudi-owned satellite channel Al Arabiya in which he imperiously denied self-enrichment and defended his name.
Little is publicly known about the state of Mr. Mubarak’s health, a taboo topic during his years as the leader of Egypt. As recently as 2007, a prominent newspaper editor, Ibrahim Eissa, was sentenced to six months in jail for publishing articles on the subject. Rumors have circulated that he has suffered from pancreatic and colon cancer.
The detentions follow growing pressure from Egyptians to prosecute Mr. Mubarak and his family. Last Friday, tens of thousands of people rallied in Tahrir Square in Cairo calling for trials of Mr. Mubarak and his associates, including some members of the military council that now rules the country.
A core of protesters remained in Tahrir Square, also known as Liberation Square, after that rally. They erected a barricade of barbed wire after clashes with security forces before dawn on Saturday left at least two people dead and dozens wounded.
On Tuesday afternoon, the crowds were forcibly removed from Tahrir Square by men in civilian clothes armed with clubs, who fought with protesters and removed their barricades, local news reports said. Many protesters were detained by the military police as they fled the square.
Mr. Mubarak’s hospitalization prompted suspicions that he — or the military council, which is increasingly seen as bent on protecting him — may be staging “an elaborate ruse to get him out of the country for treatment,” said Hani Shakrallah, editor of the news Web site Ahram Online.
“It could be a way to avoid questioning,” Mr. Shakrallah said. “But avoid it for how long? The military is determined to try him.” He added: “The report is not that far-fetched. It is possible they brought him in for the questioning, and the man got so upset that he fell ill.”
Mona El-Naggar contributed reporting.
