The Cairo Criminal Court trying toppled former president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons for murder and corruption charges took two significant decisions this week. On Monday, the court, presided by judge Mahmoud Kamel Al-Rashidi, ordered the release of Mubarak's two sons Alaa and Gamal in accordance with the criminal procedures law. The Cairo Criminal Court also ordered that lawyers defending families of the victims of the revolution be prevented from attending future sessions. According to Al-Rashidi, the lawyer defending Gamal and Alaa, he submitted a request asking that they be released “because the maximum period of their preventive detention has run out.” “As a result,” explained Al-Rashidi, “the court discovered that Gamal and Alaa were really remanded into custody for more than two years and that this is in violation of Article 143 of the criminal procedures law.” Alaa and Gamal are being held in custody pending trial for three other charges: illegal profiteering, insider trading on the stock exchange and embezzling money allotted to presidential palaces. Bahaaeddin Abu Shoka, a high-profile lawyer, explained that the 2006 criminal procedures law states that “defendants facing capital punishment or life sentences cannot be remanded into custody for more than two years, and that those facing prison sentences with hard labour cannot be remanded in custody for more than 18 months.” Abu Shoka argued that “this applies to Alaa and Gamal who were remanded into custody for more than two years (they were arrested on 13 April 2011), not to mention that they were acquitted last year of the charge of illegally profiteering from selling Egyptian natural gas to Israel.” Abu Shoka also explained that the Cairo Criminal Court had previously ordered the release of Mubarak himself after he was held in custody for more than two years. “But he was also kept in prison pending trial on other charges,” said Abu Shoka. Ragaai Attia, a high-profile lawyer, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Alaa and Gamal would, however, be obliged to attend the coming court hearings. “We cannot say that their release is a sign that they will be acquitted at the end of the second trial,” said Attia, “but it is noticeable that most of the charges being levelled against them are not well grounded and are filed mainly to keep them in jail for as long as possible.” Attia proved correct on Tuesday as the Giza Criminal Court ordered the release of Alaa and Gamal on the charge of receiving LE12 million in bribes from the Egyptian National Bank. Presiding Judge Reda Shawkat said the two sons of Mubarak were held in custody for two years and that this violates the 2006 criminal procedures law. The Cairo Criminal Court also ordered on Saturday that lawyers defending families of the victims of the revolution be prevented from attending the trial's future sessions. The court also rejected all civil complaints filed on behalf of the victims' families and relatives. The court explained that “Mubarak, his two sons, security officials and businessman Hussein Salem faced judgements on 2 June 2012.” “In reaction,” the court said, “Mubarak and other defendants decided to appeal against the judgement before the Court of Cassation, while the lawyers of the families of the victims failed to do so.” The court explained that “the lawyers of the Mubaraks and other defendants requested the judgements be overturned and that they be acquitted of charges of manslaughter and corruption, while prosecutors filed a counter appeal in the Cassation Court, asking that the 2 June 2012 judgement that six former police chiefs be acquitted of the charge of killing protesters during the 25 January Revolution be overturned.” The court's order was welcomed by the lawyers of the defendants, while lawyers of the families of the victims chanted slogans against judges including “The people ask that justice be cleared of corruption”. Judge Al-Rashidi said “the prevention of the lawyers of the families of the victims from attending the hearings is a legal technicality but the court wants to make sure that it will do its best to dig for the truth and observe justice for the sake of the families of all those who were killed during the revolution, and for the sake of freedom and democracy.” Attia explained that the court's decision to prevent lawyers of the families of the victims from attending the hearings was legally grounded “as long as these lawyers failed to file an appeal”. He argued that the decision “might lead to Mubarak and other defendants facing mild sentences or even be completely acquitted of all charges”. “Please note that the Court of Cassation, the highest judicial authority in Egypt, accepted the appeal of the Mubaraks after it found that the first trial was rife with technical and procedural irregularities and usually in such cases defendants receive mild sentences or are acquitted in a second trial,” said Attia. He alluded to the fact that in 2009, the Cairo Criminal Court ordered that construction magnate Hisham Talaat Mustafa be executed for the killing of a Lebanese female singer in the Arab Gulf emirate of Dubai. “Later and after an appeal filed by Mustafa, the Court of Cassation decided that he be sentenced to just 15 years in prison,” said Attia, adding, “I expect that the same would apply to Mubarak and other defendants.” The Cairo Criminal Court decided on Monday to adjourn Mubarak's trial until 6 July. Judge Al-Rashidi said the decision was taken upon the request of the lawyers of the Mubaraks and other defendants who said they needed time to review new documents and videos submitted by prosecutors and which are believed to contain strong evidence that Mubarak had a hand in killing peaceful protesters during the early days of the 25 January Revolution. On Monday, the court unsealed boxes containing 11 notebooks about the movements of Central Security Forces during the early days of the revolution, and 39 pieces of video footage of demonstrations at Cairo's Tahrir Square where the largest number of protesters — estimated at 850 — were shot to death. The boxes also included CDs and live videos submitted by Semiramis InterContinental Hotel, featuring in detail the reaction of Central Security Forces in Tahrir to the riots. Mubarak's lawyer Farid Al-Deeb said “these boxes contain a lot of material which need time to review because I have to see if they are different from the initial evidence submitted against my client [Mubarak].” Joining forces, Essam Al-Batawi, the lawyer of Mubarak's feared interior minister Habib Al-Adli, who is being tried for killing protesters, said “the new documents contain 55,000 pages while some evidence is billed as ‘top secret' and so we need time to review all of this.” Mubarak, 85, was brought into the caged dock sitting in a wheelchair, wearing a white gown and his familiar dark glasses. He appeared in good health, with his hair dyed black. As usual, supporters of Mubarak gathered in front of the court, carrying his pictures and chanting slogans against the current Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. By contrast, families of the victims chanted slogans against the judges, asking for retribution for what they call the “revolution's martyrs”. Mubarak and other defendants, including his two sons Gamal and Alaa, business associate Salem (a fugitive in Spain), Al-Adli and former police chiefs, are facing re-trial on charges of conspiring to kill peaceful pro-democracy protesters during the 2011 January Revolution and illegally profiteering from their influential jobs. After the first trial, which began on August 2011, Mubarak and Al-Adli were sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2012, while other defendants were acquitted. Mubarak and Al-Adli appealed, with the Court of Cassation deciding early this year to put them on trial anew.
