Civil rights lawyers demand death sentence for Mubarak

Cairo (CNN) -- Civil rights lawyers demanded the death penalty for former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday, joining prosecutor's calls for him to be executed.

"We merged our voice with the prosecutor's closing arguments from last week's hearing and demanded the death sentence to Mubarak, his former interior minister Habib El Adly, and four of his aides for killing hundreds of protesters and injuring thousands more," attorney Khalid Abu Bakr told CNN. "We have proof Mubarak is directly responsible for the killings along with El Adly and his aides."

Abu Bakr said Mubarak deserved to die for violating Egypt's criminal law 77.

"His negligence and actions led to endangering the national security of the country," he said.

The attorney also provided the court with a list of alleged suspects he wants indicted, including police officers he said where caught on camera firing their weapons on protesters.

Another lawyer, Sameh Ashour, said he provided evidence to the court "of communication between security forces that prove the presence of snipers on rooftop buildings during the revolution."

The judge, Ahmed Refaat, has set aside Monday and Tuesday to hear from at least 10 civil rights lawyers. The defense is expected to make its closing arguments later in the week.

"The judge will then decide on a day to announce the final verdict," said Adel Saeed, the official spokesman of the General Prosecutor's office. "If he is fast, we may see a verdict before January 25th" -- the day the Egyptian uprising began last year.

Last week, the Russian foreign ministry issued a statement, expressing its "deep concern" over the prosecutor's request for a death sentence to Mubarak and calling on Egypt to consider Mubarak's old age and poor health. Germany and France also issued statements of "concern."

Mubarak is accused of corruption and ordering protesters killed during the country's uprising last year. He has denied the charges.

Two of Mubarak's sons are also on trial on a variety of charges. The sons, Gamal and Alaa, have pleaded not guilty.

Lawyers familiar with the case said it is unlikely Mubarak and his fellow defendants will receive the death penalty.

This is in part because of the difficulty in proving the president ordered the killings, the lawyers said.

Analysts agreed that while some Egyptians might welcome a death sentence for Mubarak, particularly at a time of heightened tension as the anniversary of the uprising approaches, he is more likely to receive a prison term.

Many Egyptians have criticized the court proceedings and some worry that Mubarak may be acquitted of the murder charges. Five police officers accused of killing protesters already have been acquitted.

Amnesty International had estimated more than 840 protesters were killed and 6,000 injured. Saeed, the prosecutor's spokesman, said the prosecutor's estimate of 225 deaths and more than 1,300 injured is lower "because there has been a differentiation between those killed outside police stations while attacking the precinct and those shot while protesting."

Source: CNN, January 9, 2012

Related articles:

Egypt: Prosecutor seeks death sentence for Mubarak

Jan 05, 2012

Cairo (CNN) -- Prosecutors in the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak formally requested a penalty of death by hanging for Mubarak and several of his fellow defendants Thursday, an attorney at the court said. ...

http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/

Death Penalty News: Mubarak trial to open next week, Egypt says

Jul 29, 2011

Cairo (CNN) -- Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak's trial on charges of corruption and ordering police to kill anti-government protesters will open Wednesday at a Cairo convention hall, Egypt's justice minister announced...

http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/

Death Penalty News: Mubarak, ex-interior minister get death penalty ...

Jul 28, 2011

In a popular trial held in Minya Governorate on Tuesday, both ex-president Hosni Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly were sentenced to death for killing protesters and misappropriating the nation's money. ...

http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/

Death Penalty News: Hosni Mubarak charged with murder

May 24, 2011

Egypt referred Hosni Mubarak to court on Tuesday over the killing of protesters and other charges, defying speculation that Egypt's new military rulers would spare the former president public humiliation. Mubarak was ousted ...

http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/

Comments

Kansas AG urges governor to deny clemency to 8 sentenced to death

TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach on Tuesday urged the governor to deny clemency to Kansas inmates who have been sentenced to death. Eight of nine people sentenced to death in Kansas formally filed clemency requests in May, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office. Kobach urged Gov. Laura Kelly to reject them.

Alabama | Judge bars nitrogen gas execution, says method is unconstitutionally cruel

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from executing an inmate with nitrogen gas after declaring it violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Emily Marks issued the ruling hours after an appeals court reversed her initial finding that the method was constitutional. Marks permanently enjoined the state from executing Jeffrey Lee, 49, by nitrogen gas. He was scheduled to be executed Thursday. The decision, for now, blocks the use of the controversial new execution method that the state has championed since 2024, but the issue will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Idaho will soon turn to firing squad executions. Police will pull the triggers

Trained members of Idaho law enforcement with demonstrated firearms proficiency are expected to fill slots for carrying out the death penalty by firing squad as the state prison system transitions to the controversial execution method next month. Six volunteers certified for no less than three years apiece through Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, will be recruited to ensure the Idaho Department of Correction is ready to comply with a state law that prioritizes shooting prisoners to death over lethal injection starting July 1. No one on the team may have faced disciplinary action over firearms, use of force, or related conduct over the prior year, according to new execution protocols the prison system released this week.

SCOTUS: Alabama can’t execute Jeffery Lee by nitrogen; Thursday execution called off

After a week of legal volleyball, Alabama death row inmate Jeffery Lee’s execution—scheduled for Thursday evening—was called off after federal courts called the state’s nitrogen gas execution method “likely unconstitutional.” The state took the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping Lee could still be put to death tonight. In an order issued at 8:10 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that it would not lift a ban on Alabama executing Lee via nitrogen . In a short court order, the justices denied Alabama’s motion to go ahead with the execution. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the appeal and let the execution proceed, according to the order.

US | Army lays groundwork for death row executions if Trump gives approval

The Army is preparing to carry out the executions of the military's four death-row inmates if ordered to do so by the president, according to an internal planning document reviewed by ABC News. If carried out, it would mark the first time the military executed convicted American inmates in more than a half-century The plan, dubbed "Operation Resolute Justice" and issued internally in February, directs Army officials to coordinate with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to transfer condemned prisoners from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to the federal execution facility in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the Justice Department carried out a series of non-military federal executions during President Donald Trump's first term.

With nitrogen gas blocked, Alabama seeks to execute inmate by lethal injection

Jeffery Lee, who successfully challenged his scheduled Thursday execution by nitrogen gas, argued that execution by firing squad would be less painful. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office Friday sought to put an Alabama death row inmate to death by lethal injection a day after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed the state’s attempt to execute him by nitrogen gas. In a filing with the Alabama Supreme Court Friday afternoon, the state sought an expedited motion to set a new execution date for Jeffery Lee, 49. The state said that with a permanent injunction in place against nitrogen gas, the method by which the state intended to execute Lee on Thursday, it could execute him by lethal injection or the electric chair.

Texas | Tanner Horner now incarcerated at the Polunsky Unit

Convicted child killer Tanner Horner has now taken up residence in one of the most brutal death row prisons after being sentenced to die by a Texas jury last month. Horner is incarcerated at the Polunsky Unit, an infamously restrictive prison outside Houston where the state's death row inmates are housed in an all-solitary confinement wing and spend at least 22 hours a day in their 60-square-foot cells. The former FedEx deliveryman, 34, was booked at the notorious prison on May 5 within hours of being sentenced for the gruesome murder of Athena Strand, 7, whom he admitted strangling while delivering a Christmas gift to her home in November 2022.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

Texas | Death Row Inmate Gets Resentenced to Life

Harris County district judge recommends compassionate release for Clarence Jordan A 1977 convenience store robbery that resulted in a clerk’s death landed Clarence Jordan on Texas Death Row, where he remained for decades even though he was declared incompetent for execution. On Monday, a judge recommended that the disabled man be released. Harris County District Court Judge Katherine Thomas resentenced Jordan to life with the possibility of parole and suggested that he be considered for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Medically Recommended Intensive Supervision program, also known as compassionate release.

New Mississippi billboard warns criminals: ‘Firing squad is legal’

DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. (WREG) — A billboard standing on Interstate 55 southbound as you cross the Tennessee state line and enter Mississippi from Memphis is sending a grim message to those coming into the state. DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton recently announced the new billboard campaign, which features the sign reading, “WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI. WHERE THE FIRING SQUAD IS LEGAL. THINK TWICE.” It references Mississippi’s law permitting execution by firing squad under certain circumstances for inmates sentenced to death. Barton says this campaign is aimed at deterring violent crime and sends a direct message to criminals entering Mississippi.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog