Hosni Mubarak's trial is the beginning of a long process of clearing out his regime at all levels, writes MICHAEL JANSEN
OUSTED EGYPTIAN president Hosni Mubarak is the first modern Arab ruler to be put in the dock by his own people.
His fall, incarceration and trial constitute a dramatic reminder to fellow countrymen in positions of authority and dictators everywhere that they are not immune from people power and accountability.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which assumed the presidency after Mubarak was overthrown, agreed to his trial only after escalating pressure from millions of demonstrators of all political persuasions in Tahrir Square, the cradle of the uprising, and across the country.
They have constantly demanded free and fair trials on charges of abuse of power and corruption for Mubarak, his sons Alaa and Gamal, and leading figures in his 30-year regime.
Egyptians also want convictions for ordering pre-uprising detentions of dissidents and critics, torture, disappearances and graft that has robbed Egypt of resources and riches.
If convicted in the trial in criminal court, the defendants can appeal verdicts in two higher courts. This means the process of bringing Mubarak and his entourage to justice could take months, perhaps even years. It is unlikely though that public interest will flag because of the identity of the defendants.
Mubarak was the absolute ruler of Egypt for nearly 30 years; his second son, Gamal, was seen as his political heir. Most of Egypt’s 80 million people were born during this repressive reign.
While Mubarak loyalists and henchmen have joined the supreme council in resisting and postponing the president’s trial, mass action and the deterioration of the economy have compelled the military to go ahead with prosecution of the former president, well aware that the circle of indictments could reach senior military officers.
Mubarak’s trial is not the end game of Egypt’s revolutionaries but the beginning of a long process of clearing out his regime at all levels. Now that he has appeared in the dock, other high- ranking figures are expected to follow. Live coverage of yesterday’s opening session was also a victory for transparency, a concession the revolutionaries wrung from a reluctant council which initially decided that cases against former ministers, policemen and corrupt businessmen should be held in camera.
According to Prof Khaled Fahmy of the American University in Cairo, the council – which has not formulated a strategy for dealing with the revolution – responds on the tactical level to “the language of pressure”.
Therefore, the revolutionaries are likely to maintain pressure and escalate protests until their most urgent demands are met.
Now that Mubarak is lodged in a Cairo hospital rather than staying in distant Sharm el-Sheikh, and now that he and his sons are in the dock, the revolutionaries are likely to focus on their demands to lift the state of emergency imposed in 1981, to free up to 10,000 protesters held since the uprising and to halt military trials for civilians.
While these demands are common to secular revolutionaries and fundamentalists and in the power of the supreme council to grant, the fate of the revolution itself remains uncertain.
Secular revolutionaries who launched the uprising are also seeking multi-party democracy.
While they are committed to forming a common front against the Muslim Brotherhood and ultra-orthodox Salafis, emerging secular parties have not overcome destructive divisions or put forward a united political programme ahead of the parliamentary election scheduled for November.
They face a serious challenge from well-organised Muslim fundamentalists who have been co-operating with the counter- revolutionary supreme council and are expected to make a strong showing.