Egypt prosecutor to appeal Mubarak verdict

Egypt’s state prosecutor will appeal the verdict in Hosni Mubarak’s trial, which acquitted the former leader and his two sons on corruption charges and cleared senior police officers of complicity in killing protesters during last year’s uprising, an official told the Associated Press on Sunday. The prosecutor must appeal the entire verdict, which also included convictions and life sentences for Mubarak and his former security chief for failing to stop the killing of protesters in the uprising that ousted him. Six top police commanders, who faced the same charge of complicity in killing protesters, were acquitted for what the judge said was lack of concrete evidence. The official spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media. Mubarak, the only autocrat toppled in the Arab Spring to be put in the dock, could have been sent to the gallows as demanded by the prosecution. He was also cleared of graft charges. The prosecution had asked for the death sentence against the ousted president and his security aides, but it has received much criticism over its preparations for the case. Mubarak’s defence has also said it would appeal. Both Mubarak’s defence team and lawyers representing his victims said the life sentence verdict could easily be appealed, triggering fears among protesters that he could be ruled innocent. Around 20,000 people took to Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square on Saturday after the verdicts were issued. Some of the demonstrators slept in tents or out in the open overnight on the vast intersection, epicentre of the 18-day revolt that forced Mubarak to resign on February 11 last year. “We intend to stay today and possibly tomorrow. We expect a lot more people to come during the day,” said Omar Abdelkader, a young protester in Tahrir on Sunday. “Many people had the feeling while listening to the verdict that we were back in the days of the old regime,” said student Feda Essam, another protester in the square. The demonstrators erected a memorial depicting a miniature cemetery made of gravestones and sand in tribute to the “martyrs” of the revolution.