American analyst Max Fisher commented on the acquittal of former President Hosni Mubarak in an article published on Vox website saying that he was acquitted because "politics clearly favored his release, and it is politics— not rule of law— that clearly guided this case from the beginning."
"Under Mubarak, the Egyptian judiciary was a reliable political organ, staffed with regime loyalists; it remains so today," Fisher wrote.
Fisher mentioned that Mubarak's release was not surprising but rather expected as the revolutionary mood in Egypt was over.
He argued that the secular authoritarianism of Mubarak has returned with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's rule as the idea of a Mubarak-style military dictatorship has become popular again.
"The judges are smart enough to know who's in charge and how things are to work. While Sisi's state media is not openly pro-Mubarak— that would be a hard sell after public rage sent hundreds of thousands of Egyptians into the street calling for his ouster— it does openly condemn the 2011 revolutionary leaders, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood that took power in 2012," Fisher said.
Fisher said that the small number of people who gathered to protest the acquittal of Mubarak, compared to hundreds of thousands who protested to demand Mubarak step down less than four years ago, showed that the public in Egypt has been muted.
Mubarak, who was toppled following an uprising in 2011, was acquitted Saturday of charges of killing protesters in the 25 January revolution after three years in prison.
