In August , Egyptians were astonished to see Mr. Mubarak wheeled into a courtroom on a hospital gurney and placed in the defendants cage. It was a remarkable and humbling fall for the only ruler most Egyptians had ever known.
In the end, however, the trial did little to provide a sense of closure or reconciliation for a society struggling to come to terms with its past and future. In June , Mr. Mubarak was wheeled back into court, his arms crossed defiantly as he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
But an appeals court overturned the verdict and ordered a retrial, and he was ultimately exonerated. He also skirted several corruption accusations. The trial occurred against the backdrop of a tense presidential election. The two candidates heading for a runoff were polarizing figures, one a leader with the Muslim Brotherhood, a popular Islamist movement; the other, Mr.
And the guilty verdict drew thousands of people into the streets to denounce it as a sham, many believing that the judge had laid the groundwork for the former president to go free on appeal. Mubarak never actually resigned publicly; in a speech on Feb.
The next day, against a tide of public anger, Omar Suleiman, the longtime chief of intelligence and the newly installed vice president, read a statement on television signaling the end of Mr. But even then, Mr. Mubarak had trouble acknowledging that he was through.
He held to the manufactured image of himself as a misunderstood father figure who had been fated to lead. After his conviction, he was flown by helicopter not back to the relative comfort of the military hospital, but to a prison hospital. Shocked, Mr.
Mubarak refused to leave the helicopter, the state news media reported. Hours went by before he could be coaxed out, and his health soon went into a rapid decline. Mubarak never intended to be president. His rise was described as an accident of history, set in motion when Islamist radicals in the military shot and killed his predecessor, Anwar el-Sadat, as he sat reviewing a military parade, his vice president, Mr.
Mubarak, beside him. The guiding principles of the Mubarak regime were security and stability, and the pillars of his state were the police, the intelligence services and himself. He presented his nation, and the West, with an either-or scenario: either he stayed in power, or chaos would reign. But to preserve stability and security, he relied on an emergency law that had been imposed after Sadat was killed and remained in place throughout his tenure.
It put broad restrictions on civil liberties, curbing the right to assembly and allowing for arrest and detention without charges. But it proved to be another dated formula, and it ultimately failed his nation and him. When he entered office, Mr. Mubarak, taciturn and cautious, was admired for his understated style. He condemned corruption and nepotism and offered calm to a nation scarred by war, assassination and economic hardship. But his caution led to half steps. Economic reform was restricted to only partial privatization.
Citizens could criticize the government but not organize. Democracy in Egypt was only a veneer. But hopes for a democratic Egypt were crushed and the historic square given a sterile new look. The death of Hosni Mubarak underscored how Egyptian hopes for democracy following his ouster in have been crushed under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. By Declan Walsh and Nada Rashwan. His funeral will take place Wednesday and there will be three days of national mourning. Gubash, a native Minnesotan, has lived and worked in the Egyptian capital since IE 11 is not supported.
For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Southlake Podcast U. Share this —. Follow NBC News. Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak dies at age 91 Feb.
Mr Mubarak won three elections unopposed since , but for his fourth contest in - after a firm push from the US - he changed the system to allow rival candidates. They accused the Egyptian leader of presiding over a sustained campaign of suppressing.
The length of his time in power, along with his age and possible successors, had all been sensitive subjects in Egypt until the mass protests allowed the Egyptian people to find a voice. People around Mr Mubarak said his health and vigour belied his age - although a couple of health scares served as a reminder of his advancing years. Rumours about the president's health gathered pace when he travelled to Germany in March for gall bladder surgery.
They flared every time he missed a key gathering or disappeared from the media spotlight for any conspicuous length of time. However much Egyptian officials tried to deny them, they kept circulating, with reports in the Israeli and pan-Arab media.
The days of mass protests in Egyptian cities prompted Mr Mubarak to finally name a vice-president. On 29 January , intelligence chief Omar Suleiman was elevated to the role in what was seen as an attempt by Mr Mubarak to bolster his support in the military.
Two weeks later Mr Mubarak's three-decade rule was over, and in March he was under arrest. In the past, Mr Mubarak had said he would continue to serve Egypt until his last breath. In his speech on 1 February , he said: "This dear nation On its soil I will die. History will judge me like it did others.
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