The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party deputy chief Essam al-Erian reacted to news of the retrial of former President Hosni Mubarak on his Facebook page, saying, “Some people demanded the retrial of Mubarak when Ahmed Shafiq was a presidential candidate. However, God wanted this to take place under rule of Morsy.”
Meanwhile, former MP Mohamed Abu Hamed, a staunch opponent of President Mohamed Morsy, told the independent daily Al-Watan that the retrial of all those involved in killing protesters is a good thing, as it will allow more accurate investigations. He added that a retrial would also help establish whether or not recent reports saying that Muslim Brotherhood militias were involved with killing protesters were true or not.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights has also issued a report with several recommendations for authorities overseeing Mubarak’s retrial who want to avoid repeating the mistakes of the first trial.
In the report issued on Sunday, the center said that “the main reason behind the defective ruling by Cairo Criminal Court was that the trial was held by the same security and judicial apparatuses that were established to protect Mubarak’s regime and prevent any accountability even after his ouster. None of the individuals, the institutions, or the legislative frameworks were changed.”
The report also alleged that the prosecution and the court were motivated by politics rather than justice, citing instances where the prosecution was neglectful in conducting investigations, referring suspects and gathering evidence.
The EIPR report came as the the Court of Cassation ordered a retrial of the former president and his former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly on charges related to the killing of protesters during the 25 January revolution.
The court also ordered a retrial in another case against Mubarak, accepting a challenge to the Cairo Criminal Court verdict clearing him, his sons Alaa and Gamal and Hussein Salam of illegally exporting gas to Israel and abuse of power.
Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Mubarak and Adly in June to life in prison over failing to prevent the killings of protesters as well as abusing power and financial corruption. The same court acquitted six of Adly's assistants of failing to prevent protester deaths.
In a non-mandatory report over the case, appeal prosecutors recommended a retrial of Mubarak and Adly in light of their appeals, which were submitted by their defense teams in June.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
