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| Mubarak Tells Court He Gave All For Egypt | Mubarak Tells Court He Gave All For Egypt |
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| CAIRO — In his first public statement since his ouster in the Arab Spring revolts, former President Hosni Mubarak told a Cairo court on Wednesday that history would vindicate his self-sacrifice as a servant of the people. | CAIRO — In his first public statement since his ouster in the Arab Spring revolts, former President Hosni Mubarak told a Cairo court on Wednesday that history would vindicate his self-sacrifice as a servant of the people. |
| Called to testify about charges that he had directed the killing of protesters, Mr. Mubarak took the opportunity to recite the achievements of what he called a 62-year career of service to Egypt. “I exhausted my life fighting against enemies of the homeland,” Mr. Mubarak said. “The wheel of history can never roll backward, and no one can falsify the facts.” | |
| Once reviled for the brutality and corruption of his 30-year rule as president, Mr. Mubarak seems to be enjoying a modest revival in his reputation after three years of tumult that followed his ouster. A military takeover last summer brought to power another military-backed strongman, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and some Egyptians now acknowledge a measure of nostalgia for the stability of Mr. Mubarak’s era. Many more view him with growing indifference, as an old-timer watching from the sidelines as Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood swept into the presidency in Egypt’s first free election, and Mr. Sisi swept him out just 12 months later. | Once reviled for the brutality and corruption of his 30-year rule as president, Mr. Mubarak seems to be enjoying a modest revival in his reputation after three years of tumult that followed his ouster. A military takeover last summer brought to power another military-backed strongman, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and some Egyptians now acknowledge a measure of nostalgia for the stability of Mr. Mubarak’s era. Many more view him with growing indifference, as an old-timer watching from the sidelines as Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood swept into the presidency in Egypt’s first free election, and Mr. Sisi swept him out just 12 months later. |
| Mr. Mubarak, 86, now lives in police custody in a military hospital overlooking the Nile, but on Wednesday, he sounded as proud and defiant as he did in his last speeches from the presidential palace on the eve of his ouster. Wearing a dark blue shirt open at the collar, he sat upright in the hospital gurney that has carried him into all of his many court sessions. He wore glasses and read a prepared statement. But his hair was still unusually thick and black for a man his age, just as it was in the photographs that once adorned billboards, police stations and public offices across Egypt. | Mr. Mubarak, 86, now lives in police custody in a military hospital overlooking the Nile, but on Wednesday, he sounded as proud and defiant as he did in his last speeches from the presidential palace on the eve of his ouster. Wearing a dark blue shirt open at the collar, he sat upright in the hospital gurney that has carried him into all of his many court sessions. He wore glasses and read a prepared statement. But his hair was still unusually thick and black for a man his age, just as it was in the photographs that once adorned billboards, police stations and public offices across Egypt. |
| At times, Mr. Mubarak seemed to implicitly criticize his old office’s new occupant, Mr. Sisi, over his tacit support for Israel in its current battle with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. Mr. Mubarak dwelled at length on what he said was his own firm opposition to Israel and his support for the Palestinians. | At times, Mr. Mubarak seemed to implicitly criticize his old office’s new occupant, Mr. Sisi, over his tacit support for Israel in its current battle with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. Mr. Mubarak dwelled at length on what he said was his own firm opposition to Israel and his support for the Palestinians. |
| “I have managed relationships with Israel like a man walking a tightrope, without any compromise on national sovereignty or the Palestinian people’s rights,” Mr. Mubarak said. “Considering Palestinian interests, I have never hesitated a moment in providing Egypt’s aid to those under siege in Gaza.” | “I have managed relationships with Israel like a man walking a tightrope, without any compromise on national sovereignty or the Palestinian people’s rights,” Mr. Mubarak said. “Considering Palestinian interests, I have never hesitated a moment in providing Egypt’s aid to those under siege in Gaza.” |
| His voice caught for a moment as he alluded to his own mortality. “Perhaps my talk today is the last I speak to the sons of my nation before life reaches its end, and the time has come, and I am hidden in Egypt’s pure dust,” he said. “I thank God, conscience at rest, that I spent my life fighting for Egypt and its children.” Echoing the advice of autocrats everywhere, he admonished: “Take care of the country’s unity. Stay close to its leadership.” | His voice caught for a moment as he alluded to his own mortality. “Perhaps my talk today is the last I speak to the sons of my nation before life reaches its end, and the time has come, and I am hidden in Egypt’s pure dust,” he said. “I thank God, conscience at rest, that I spent my life fighting for Egypt and its children.” Echoing the advice of autocrats everywhere, he admonished: “Take care of the country’s unity. Stay close to its leadership.” |
| But his own legacy was his main theme. “I never sought any position or power,” Mr. Mubarak said, recalling his military service in wars with Israel in 1967 and 1973 as well as Egypt’s economic expansion during his years as president. | But his own legacy was his main theme. “I never sought any position or power,” Mr. Mubarak said, recalling his military service in wars with Israel in 1967 and 1973 as well as Egypt’s economic expansion during his years as president. |
| “We freed our economy, and opened it to the world, and provided a suitable atmosphere to attract investment,” he said, declaring that he had “achieved the highest growth rates in history.” | “We freed our economy, and opened it to the world, and provided a suitable atmosphere to attract investment,” he said, declaring that he had “achieved the highest growth rates in history.” |
| None of that was relevant to the case: It was a retrial ordered after an appeals court overturned a 2012 conviction on charges of overseeing the killing of hundreds of Egyptians by security forces during the protests that ended his rule. The judge in that case had issued a life sentence even while acknowledging a lack of direct evidence that Mr. Mubarak had ordered the killings. | None of that was relevant to the case: It was a retrial ordered after an appeals court overturned a 2012 conviction on charges of overseeing the killing of hundreds of Egyptians by security forces during the protests that ended his rule. The judge in that case had issued a life sentence even while acknowledging a lack of direct evidence that Mr. Mubarak had ordered the killings. |
| The court said Wednesday that it would deliver its verdict in the retrial on Aug. 27. But even if acquitted, Mr. Mubarak may not walk free. In May, he was sentenced to three years in jail in a separate embezzlement case involving the diversion of public funds through a state-owned construction company for his family’s personal use. | The court said Wednesday that it would deliver its verdict in the retrial on Aug. 27. But even if acquitted, Mr. Mubarak may not walk free. In May, he was sentenced to three years in jail in a separate embezzlement case involving the diversion of public funds through a state-owned construction company for his family’s personal use. |