Saturday, April 02, 2011

CAIRO: Egyptians rallied in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities Friday demanding that ousted President Hosni Mubarak and other former officials be put on trial.
Mubarak was toppled Feb. 11, but reformers who drove the protests that brought him down are concerned by what they see as the lingering influence of elements from his administration.

Activists called for Friday’s rally to “protect the revolution.” One banner held aloft in Cairo’s Tahrir Square read: “The people want corruption put on trial to save the revolution.”
The reformers want tougher steps to recover assets they say Mubarak and others took from the state and seek deeper change in Egypt which is now ruled by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by the defense minister who served under Mubarak.

“I came because the military has been very slow in putting the people in the old regime on trial. Mubarak has not been charged with murder for the people who were killed,” said Alaa Hashim, 28, an engineer who was among protesters in Tahrir Square.

A legal representative for Mubarak has denied media reports that the former president had amassed enormous wealth while in office, saying Mubarak had submitted his final financial statement to the concerned judicial bodies as required by law.

Tens of thousands streamed in and out of Tahrir Square throughout the day, fewer than the hundreds of thousands who protested at the height of rallies to topple Mubarak. About 2,000 also protested in Egypt’s second city of Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea. Others gathered in the cities of Suez and Mahalla al-Kubra.
“Legitimacy is from Tahrir. Change means change. Dear prosecutor, do not delay the cases,” chanted the crowd at Tahrir Square.

However, many Egyptians are more concerned about the deterioration in law and order and disruption to their daily lives that they blame on the continued protests.
Some protested Friday against constitutional amendments that included making it easier to run for president.
The demonstrators said the changes did not go far enough.

Soon after the resignation of Mubarak, Egypt’s public prosecutor issued a list of people whose cash, shares, bonds, real estate and other assets had been frozen. The list includes Mubarak, his wife and their two sons, as well as business executives, former officials and their relatives. It has grown to more than 180 people.

“The Supreme Council [of the Armed Forces] is arresting people for demonstrating but not putting people on trial who stole millions,” said Ahmad al-Sherif, 45, a teacher of religious studies at Al-Azhar, a prestigious seat of Sunni learning.

A committee set up by Egypt’s military rulers that aims to recover frozen assets belonging to Mubarak and other leading officials also bans three former top officials from leaving Egypt pending an investigation over the source of their wealth.

The decision applies to Fathi Sorour, the former speaker of the lower house of Parliament, Safwat al-Sharif, a senior member of the ruling party and head of the upper house of Parliament, and Zakaria Azmi, one of Mubarak’s senior aides.
An online group with 300,000 supporters called for the prosecution of those three figures, calling them “the trio of evil.” It also calls for swift trials.

“The counter-revolution is attempting to abort our demands by claiming that with the mere fall of the president and the dissolution of Parliament, the people’s demands have been accomplished,” the online page read.
“This turnout shows we still have legitimacy on our side. I felt like I was suffocating for two weeks and being back here is uplifting. I can breathe again,” Ahmad, 24, said.
Activists said they were also protesting over a proposed law they

 said curtailed freedom of expression.
The draft law, which imposes prison sentences and fines for some strike action, has been criticized by rights groups. Human Rights Watch said the draft law violated international laws on freedom of assembly and must be scrapped. Ministers say the law is aimed at returning order to Egypt. – Reuters