Hosni Mubarak’s publicly broadcast trial has evoked a sense of sympathy towards the bedridden and frail ousted president, while garnering deep popular support for the country’s military rulers.
Cairo’s streets were emptier than usual Wednesday morning as a large number of Egyptians glued themselves to their television sets to watch the trial.
Owners of a café in Giza square decided to open their doors to viewers, despite having shut up shop for the Ramadan holiday. Customers rejoiced after seeing former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly entering the cage. “Al-Adly, Ismail al-Shaer and those guys can all go to the gallows,” said Mahmoud al-Abd, a driver.
However, when Mubarak was carted in on a trolley, many of them stood dumbfounded. Many of the same viewers who had cheered the appearance of the first batch of suspects, were overcome with sympathy at the apparently pitiful state of the alleged ringleader.
“That’s haram [forbidden]”, shouted a man in the café, demanding, “Who agrees with doing this to an old man?” Another customer called Ahmed Hazem, 19, a student at Cairo University said, “If you have mercy on Mubarak, you had better have mercy on the people whom he killed.”
The sympathy evoked in some by the television images seem not to reflect a belief in Mubarak's innocence, so much as a feeling that he has already suffered enough to compensate for his crimes.
“I just feel sorry for him. The state he’s in is enough punishment for me. His sickness, his stature is broken, he ruined his family’s future. Mubarak received God’s justice,” said 39 year-old dry-cleaner, Mohamed Mahmoud.
Others were overcome by their sense of filial piety, a strong theme in Egyptian society.
“Consider him as your father and he made mistake. What will you do? We are people who are addicted to forgetting. This man [Mubarak] fought the war. Nobody can deny that. This man prevented Egypt from going to wars and irresponsible adventures like [President Gamal] Abdel Nasser,” said Abdel Moniem Hassan, 47, a government employee.
Viewers who claim to be more politically knowledgable or who have a legal background tried to explain to the people what is happening in the court.
“Yes, I sympathize with Mubarak, regardless of whether he is old or not. All the charges against him are not evident,” said Shaker Abbass. "You can accuse anybody of anything but you need proof of what you are saying. The whole case is just politics. It has nothing to do with laws," he added.
Despite believing that Mubarak is responsible for the many ailments that have plagued Egyptian society over the past few years, Sayed Abdel Salam, a 54-year-old employee in the Supreme Council of Antiquities, felt pangs of sympathy towards Mubarak. He explained this sympathy using a one-word, all-encompassing Egyptian idiom “Eshra”, meaning a sympathetic bond formed over time through familiarity.
“To explain such reactions you have to go back in history," said Ahmed Shawky al-Aqabaoui, Professor of Psychiatry at Al-Azhar University. "Egyptians have a complicated relationship with their rulers. In some, it’s like the relation between a son and his father. If the father beats his son, so the latter will feel angry, but he will never attack his father back. That’s the whole issue with Mubarak now.”
“I think that most of the people were attacking Mubarak for his wrongdoings. But when it came to the serious moment of having him in the cage, the majority feel sympathy against him,” added Aqabaoui.
The sympathetic reactions, however, have not so far lead to to any significant demonstrations in support of Mubarak, except for the scores of supporters gathered outside the police academy, where the trial is being held.
And sympathy to one side, most Egyptians appear to feel that the past decade was not Egypt's best. As pensioner Sayed Gad put it: “By the end of last year, a lot of us were in a state of despair from the oppression of police and the bad state of the economy. He had to be tried.”
That said, Gad also said he felt sorry for the ousted president on Wednesday. “The old man didn’t need to be taken to court," he said.
“Such an event is unprecedented," said Alakabawy. "I don’t think that sympathizing with Mubarak will transform into support for him. People are sympathizing from the point of view of Egyptian morals, particularly in terms of respect for the elders and the sick,” said Alakabawy.
Many contend that the trial was a necessary tool employed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to quell protests across the country.
“This is the strongest decision yet by the SCAF to put down the flames of the protesters,” said Abdel Salam.
“The trial has showed that support for The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is unchallengeable now. They said that they haven’t made any deals with Mubarak, and now he is seen in front of everybody in the court,” said Mustapha Kamel al-Sayed, professor of political science at Cairo University.
This increased support for the SCAF could in turn hamper the ability of the revolutionary forces to organize other sit-ins calling for protests against the policies and decisions of the military.
For more than three weeks through July, protesters occupied Tahrir Square in a sit-in demanding faster reforms and putting Mubarak on trial. On Monday, the first day of Ramadan, the military violently ended the sit-in, forcefully removing the remaining protesters in the square, including relatives of those killed in the revolution.
“It’s difficult now for activists to call for any more sit-ins or large-scale protests," said Sayed. "Ordinary Egyptians would not perceive any further calls for sit-ins in a positive way. Mubarak’s trial has pulled the rug out from under the feet of anyone planning further protests.”
