Wednesday, 13 April 2011
A protester defaces a picture of Hosni Mubarak in Alexandria. (File photo)
Egypt detained former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak for 15 days pending investigation over corruption and the killing of protesters, the prosecutor said on Wednesday.
In a statement on the public prosecutor's Facebook page, a spokesman said the prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmoud authorised the detentions "as part of an inquiry into the use of force against protesters during the unrest in January and February."
Earlier, the state television reported that the former president was still receiving treatment at a hospital in Sharm al-Sheikh as the public prosecutor ordered the detention of his powerful sons, Alaa and Gamal, for 15 days over corruption and abuse of authority.
Detaining Mr. Mubarak and his two influential sons is the most dramatic in a series of investigations against top regime officials. The development comes just hours after the 82-year-old former president was admitted to a hospital with heart problems. He too was being questioned about the killing of protesters in a revolution that toppled him. The inquiry is also focusing on alleged corruption in his administration.
The former president's questioning followed protests by reformists who accused Egypt's military rulers of protecting him from prosecution.
State television said Mr. Mubarak suffered a "heart crisis" during questioning and said he had been taken into intensive care. But Al Arabiya TV quoted a hospital manager as saying that Mubarak was fit enough to be questioned.
The state-owned Al Ahram newspaper reported the former president had been summoned to appear in a Cairo court. Its Website later said the ex-president might not have to travel now because of his illness, according to Reuters.
In a sign that Mr. Mubarak's ailment might not be very serious, however, Justice Minister Mohammed al-Guindi said he was questioned in his hospital suite for his role in the violence against protesters, according to The Associated Press.
Egypt's generals, in charge since Mubarak quit on February 11, have faced increasingly loud calls from protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square for Mr. Mubarak and his allies to stand trial.
As a police van with drawn curtains took away the two brothers, an angry crowd of 2,000 people pelted it with water bottles, stones and their flip-flops, a sign of disrespect in the Arab world, AP reported.
The increasing role of the younger son Gamal Mubarak, 47, in the government over the last decade and the belief that he might succeed his father helped galvanize Egypt's protest movement.
Gamal Mubarak is also believed to be the architect of Egypt's privatization program and economic liberalization, which has brought in billions in foreign investment but has also widened the gap between rich and poor.
Hosni Mubarak stepped down from the Egyptian presidency on February 11 after three decades in office as nationwide protests erupted on January 25, leaving an estimated 800 people dead over the next several weeks.
On Sunday, Al Arabiya TV aired an audiotape with Mubarak where he denied any wrongdoing and complained that he was the victim of a smear campaign. He said he welcomed the probe of his family’s foreign assets. But his defiance in threatening lawsuits against the media left many Egyptians who had been waiting for his prosecution angry and frustrated.
After he stepped down, Mr. Mubarak and his family moved to a lavish residence in Sharm el-Sheikh. He had vowed to die in Egypt when he addressed the country’s 80 million people shortly before resigning from his post.
Weekly demonstrations demanding his trial have attracted thousands of Egyptians. A protester died last Saturday during clashes with the military in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
(Abeer Tayel of Al Arabiya can be reached via email at: abeer.tayel@mbc.net; Sara Ghasemilee, also of Al Arabiya, can be reached at: sara.ghasemilee@mbc.net)
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