Cairo, Egypt. - Hosni Mubarak, former Egyptian president, was sentenced to life in prison by the Egyptian court on Saturday for complying in the killings of 850 demonstrators during the January 2011 peaceful protests, which ultimately ousted him from power.
Judge Ahmed Refaat, convicted the ex-president for failure to stop the January 2011 killings instead of ordering them, claiming that only conclusive evidence showed Mubarak and top officials commanding the murders. Had Mubarak been convicted of the killings, he could have faced the death penalty. However, Refaat stands by his decision as fair and appropriate.
Judge Refaat in his address to the court called the Mubarak regime "30 years of darkness" and lauded protesters saying "the sons of the nation rose up peacefully for freedom and justice," as reported by BBC.
The former Interior Minister, Habib al-Adly, was also sentenced to life in prison for the same reason. However, Mubarak and his two sons were acquitted on corruption charges.
The 82-year-old Mubarak claimed to suffer health issues as he was being transferred from a military hospital to the Cairo prison, according to reports by The New York Times.
Mubarak has been in power since 1981. Following the revolution in Tunisia in January 2011, Egyptians took to the Tahrir Square on January 25, 2011 to protest the 30-year regime of Mubarak. The protests lasted for 11 days and resulted in the deaths of many civilians.
Today, although Egypt can rejoice in the definitive end of the Mubarak rule, the country is left with a sad choice between Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohammed Mursi, and Mubarak's Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq in the up coming elections. This choice has left many Egyptians unhappy and unsatisfied.
