Ex-Egypt Ruler Hosni Mubarak Cleared on All Charges

Egypt’s former longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak was acquitted on all charges against him in connection with the killing of hundreds of protesters in the 2011 uprising that ended his nearly three-decade rule. This effectively cleared Mubarak of charges linking him to the deaths of hundreds of protesters. Nearly 900 protesters were killed during an 18 day uprising that ended when Mubarak stepped down and handed over power to the military. But that was then and this is now. It is stunning reversal of fortune for Mubarak who faced life imprisonment or worse after a revolution toppled him in 2011.

CNN:

Egypt’s former longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak was effectively cleared Saturday of charges linking him to the deaths of hundreds of protesters and probably will be released in months, a stunning reversal for a man who faced life imprisonment or worse after a revolution toppled him in 2011.

A Cairo judge capped a monthslong retrial by dismissing the death charges — reversing the former strongman’s convictions in 2012 — and finding Mubarak not guilty of corruption.

Mubarak, who ruled Egypt as president for 29 years, was stoic as his supporters cheered the decision in the courtroom. The 86-year-old, reclining on a hospital gurney behind a defendants’ cage, nodded while fellow defendants kissed him on the head.

Later, he told the country’s Sada ElBalad TV station in a brief phone interview that he “didn’t commit anything.”