The focus of much of the anger during the Arab Spring movement was longtime Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in 2011 during mass Egypt protests and later convicted on murder charges relating to the killing of hundreds of demonstrators during the uprising.
But a court just overturned his conviction, prompting new demonstrations – albeit on a much smaller scale – against the country’s military-led rule.
The ailing 86-year-old Mubarak – who reacted positively to the verdict decided on a technicality – was not released from the army hospital where he has been held since his ouster. He is still serving a three-year sentence for embezzlement.
Activists who supported the uprising blasted the ruling on social media and reportedly gathered to protest in the streets near Cairo’s Tahrir Square, which was closed by security forces.
Human Rights Watch condemned the court’s decision regarding Mubarak. “The failure to hold Mubarak accountable for the deaths of hundreds of protesters, while Egyptian courts have sentenced hundreds of Egyptians for merely participating in demonstrations, is emblematic of the glaring miscarriages of justice doled out by Egypt’s judiciary,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the non-profit’s Middle East and North Africa Division.
This is a fresh slap in the face to every Egyptian who believed that their revolution would bring fairness into their lives,” she added.
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