Mubarak to face trial for killing of protesters

The New York Times reports:

Former President Hosni Mubarak will be put on trial for conspiring to kill unarmed protesters, Egypt’s top prosecutor announced Tuesday, yielding to public demands for accountability and setting an example that could rattle autocrats around the region.

The charge could incur the death penalty. Mr. Mubarak was also accused of obtaining his seaside mansion in Sharm el Sheik as a kickback from a friend for a corrupt land deal, and prosecutors accused his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, of receiving a total of four other villas there as part of the same kickback. And in a third charge, prosecutors said the former president allowed the same friend to siphon $714 million in public money out of a deal to sell natural gas to Israel.

The charges — brought by prosecutors Mr. Mubarak had appointed — included hints that former subordinates might testify against him, as onetime allies and government insiders turn on one another.

A Cairo criminal court is expected to set a trial date within days, and the Egyptian people could soon see the leader whose iron fist ruled them for nearly three decades seated in the steel cage that serves as a docket in Egyptian courtrooms.

Egypt's Mubarak Hospitalized Amid Growing Corruption Probe

Photo: AP

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (file photo)

Egyptian authorities say former President Hosni Mubarak has been taken to a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he was under house arrest.

The 82-year-old was expected to face legal questioning over corruption allegations and Western media reported that he was to be interviewed by investigators as early as Tuesday.

During the later years of his rule, he had been suffering health problems and had undergone gallbladder surgery and treatment in Germany. He was ousted from office amid popular protests on February 11.

On Sunday, Egypt's public prosecutor summoned Mubarak for questioning about the killing of protesters and the embezzlement of public funds, as hundreds of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square demanded he be brought to trial.

A statement from the prosecutor said Mubarak's sons Gamal and Alaa also were summoned in the corruption probe. A later announcement Sunday said authorities detained former prime minister Ahmed Nazif for 15 days as part of a corruption investigation.

The ousted president says the allegations against him are unfounded, and that he has the right to defend his reputation and that of his family. 

Mubarak's remarks were broadcast Sunday by the Al-Arabiya news channel.  They were his first public remarks since mass protests forced his departure in February.

The former leader said he is willing to cooperate with authorities investigating his wealth, and stated that he does not have any foreign bank accounts or large properties abroad.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

Video: Egyptian protesters call for Mubarak to face trial TelegraphTV