Political groups launch petition to try Mubarak and aides - statement

Friday 05-12-2014 09:09 AM
Political groups launch petition to try Mubarak and aides - statement

"Try them" petition form launched by the Democratic Trend Alliance on Thursday, December 4, 2014.

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CAIRO, Dec 4 (Aswat Masriya) - Six political parties of the "Democratic Trend Alliance" launched on Thursday a petition demanding the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak and his aides.

The "Try them" petition comes after a court ruling dropped the charges against Mubarak over complicity in the murder of protesters on Saturday.

"The petition is open for all other political parties and youth movements that believe in the goals of the January 25 revolution - bread, freedom, social justice, and human dignity," Khaled Dawoud, member of the Alliance and official spokesman for al-Dostour party said in a statement.

Dawoud added that "the parties involved will open up their offices across Egypt to distribute the petition and collect signatures of millions of Egyptians who took part in the January 25 revolution and continue to defend its goals."

The Alliance includes al-Dostour Party, the Social Popular Alliance Party, the Popular Current, and the Egyptian Social Democratic Party.

It announced on Monday launching a campaign to push for holding "serious trials" for "all political and financial corruption crimes which affected national security."

Mubarak and his two sons Alaa and Gamal were accused of exploiting their influence in favour of businessman Hussein Salem after the latter granted them five villas in the Sinai resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. The judge heading the trial, Mahmoud al-Rashidi said that the statute of limitations in this case has expired, and therefore the court lacks jurisdiction to rule on it.

Egypt's cabinet approved on Tuesday a draft law issued by the presidency to amend the criminal procedures law in a manner which extends the statute of limitations for bribery.

The court also acquitted on Saturday Mubarak's Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and four of his aides on charges of inciting and aiding the killing of 238 protesters.

Mubarak and his interior minister were sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for the same charges before an appeals court ordered their retrial. The retrial began in April, 2013.

In May, a Cairo court sentenced Mubarak to three years in prison on embezzlement charges.

He is serving time in a military hospital in Cairo, where he returned upon Saturday's ruling.

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