Hmm Egypt: Mubarak's charges for deaths dismissed

In what many Egyptians called the trial of the century, a
Cairo judge Saturday dismissed charges against former
President Hosni Mubarak for the deaths of hundreds of
protesters.
The court also found Mubarak not guilty of corruption.
Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for almost 30 years, was
accused of "inciting, arranging and assisting to kill peaceful
protesters" during the country's popular uprising in 2011.
The 86-year-old had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Saturday's rulings capped his second trial for the same
charges. He was convicted of helping kill protesters and
was sentenced to life in prison in 2012, but was later
granted a new trial.
Mubarak wasn't the only defendant in the courtroom. His
former Interior Minister Habib El-Adly and six of El-
Adly's aides were also on trial for the deaths of 239
protesters in 2011. All seven of them were acquitted.
Mubarak told an Egyptian TV station on Saturday he
"didn't feel anything" after the judge cleared him.
Asked about accusations that he ordered protesters to be
killed, Mubarak told Egypt's Sada El-Balad TV by
phone: "I didn't commit anything."
"I laughed when I heard the first verdict," Mubarak said
of the original trial. "When it came to the second verdict,
I said I was waiting. It would go either way. It
wouldn't have made a difference to me either way."

In January 2011, throngs of Egyptians filled the streets of
Cairo to decry the country's poverty, unemployment and
repression. Protesters called for Mubarak to step down,
but were met by a fierce and often violent government
crackdown.
Since Mubarak stepped down in February 2011, the ailing
former ruler has appeared in court numerous times for a
variety of charges -- sometimes wheeled in on a gurney.
He often lay in a cage used to keep defendants during court
proceedings.
Explaining the verdict
Judge Mahmoud El Rashidy said he dropped charges
against Mubarak because Cairo Criminal Court didn't
have the jurisdiction to try him for the protesters' deaths.
The judge said the case that prosecutors initially referred to
the court listed only El-Adly and his aides as defendants
-- not Mubarak himself.
But after mass protests pressured the prosecutor general to
question Mubarak, a second referral was made to the
court, and the two cases were merged into one.
Lawyer Hoda Nasralla, who represents the families of 65
slain and injured protesters, said the inclusion of Mubarak
in a second referral should have trumped his exclusion in
the first.
"The judge shied away from directly acquitting Mubarak
even though he was accused of conspiring with Adly, and
Adly was acquitted," she said. "The judge resorted to
formalities instead."
Not free yet
Though Mubarak was not convicted on any charges
Saturday, he still won't go free anytime soon.