The story of Mubarak’s innocence

After several legal rounds and trial sessions, what was expected happened: the Egyptian Court of Cassation acquitted Hosni Mubarak, the ousted or recessive president, depending on your point of view regarding the felony of killing people in Tahrir Square and other areas. He was tried for murder; this was the legal case and reason for which Mubarak was jailed.

With the help of his lawyer Farid al-Dib, Mubarak pleaded his innocence, stating that those who were in charge of the killings of Egyptian protesters were members of Palestinian Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood. Anyhow, Mubarak was acquitted through a legal process, the efforts of his lawyer, the appropriate political circumstances and a climate favoring his innocence.

Egyptians have now more important cases to be worried about. However, what caught our attention is that the former president is now “living to tell the tale” as says the title chosen by Colombian genius Marquez. Will Mubarak write his biography today transparently or with as much transparency as possible? We all need to know the recent modern history; Mubarak is the history maker, not just for Egypt but for the whole region.

Jail narration

On May 4th 2014, Egyptian artist Hassan Yussef visited Mubarak in the military hospital and had an exceptional discussion with him. According to Yussef’s comments to al-Arabiya, he said that he asked the former president about the reasons behind his discharge.

Mubarak said: “I had no other option. Omar Suleiman, the vice president at the time, had told me that the Brotherhood took over the streets and Tahrir Square. They were armed and ready to kill the protesters at the square once they take the decision to end the protests, especially that I had fulfilled all their demands, namely, the dismissal of the government and dissolving the parliament and the Shura Council. Once these young people get out of the squares, the revolution would end and the regime will be in control again.”

“However, the Muslim Brotherhood did not want this to happen; on February 11th, Omar Suleiman called me when I was in Sharm el-Sheikh. He told me that the MB were about to take control of the Tahrir square and are intending to kill the protesters and blame the army and the regime. He asked about the solution and I told him that I have to walk out to save these young protesters and stop the plot of the Muslim Brotherhood (...) I had information about what the MB were planning to do, including the killings, burning and dragging the country to a civil war.”

Some might say that this is Mubarak’s biased opinion against his opponents. We say: So be it! History is the product of several tales as long as they are told by their heroes. Will Mubarak write the complete tale, starting with “October War”? This is critical considering he has said that history will decide where he was right and where he was wrong.

The article was first published in Asharq Al-Awsat.
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Saudi journalist Mashari Althaydi presents Al Arabiya News Channel’s “views on the news” daily show “Maraya.” He has previously held the position of a managing senior editor for Saudi Arabia & Gulf region at pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. Althaydi has published several papers on political Islam and social history of Saudi Arabia. He appears as a guest on several radio and television programs to discuss the ideologies of extremist groups and terrorists. He tweets under @MAlthaydy.