Egypt has so far put two of its presidents on trial. First Hosni Mubarak, the ousted dictator who spent thirty years in power. And second Mohamed Morsi, Egypts first democratically elected president who was ousted by the army only a year into his term. But the two men took a totally different approach towards their trials. While, Mubarak hid from the cameras during his trial sessions, the steadfast Morsi looked for them, and insisted he was the legitimate president of the republic, telling the judges they must respect the constitution and help him resume his presidential duties. The nature of the accusations also saw a flagrant deviation according to many observers, who argue that Egypt is before a politicized judicial system that is leading a state revenge campaign against Muslim Brotherhood. The authorities decision not to allow live airing of Morsis trial, and giving the interior ministry the right to edit any published photos, under the pretext of national security reasons, unlike what happened in Mubaraks case, also raised eyebrows, even among Morsi opponents. In a further contrast, authorities who had allowed tens of permits for Mubarak lawyers, including foreigners, handed out only five to the Brotherhoods legal team, and filtered the presence of journalists in an unprecedented manner. Mass rallied were held by Morsi supporters across Egypt including at the trials venue despite threats by police to deal lethally with protesters, while a small group of Mubarak loyalists were protected by the same forces in yet another dissimilarity between the historic trials.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 09:12:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015