Cairo - Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak told the court trying him
for complicity in the killing of protesters during last year's uprising
that he was saddened by what he called "baseless" claims against him
and expressed confidence in the judicial system and history to clear his
name.
Mubarak's remarks were made in a memo published in the
Tahrir newspaper on Thursday, a day after the former president's defence
lawyers delivered their closing remarks in a seven-month trial that has
transfixed the nation.
Lawyers confirmed Mubarak had presented a
letter to the court, but did not know its contents. One lawyer, Adel
Mekki, who represents families of protesters killed said the note
presented was longer than the one published in Tahrir. Mubarak's lawyer
was out of the country and was not available for comment.
In the
letter, which filled three columns on the daily's front page, Mubarak,
83, struck a defiant tone, speaking in the third person and telling the
court he has worked to defend his nation's honour and his people's
blood.
"The unjust accusations and the baseless allegations I am
facing sadden me. I am not someone who would shed his people's blood. I
have spent my life defending them. Hosni Mubarak is not someone to smear
his military honour with ill-gotten wealth," the published letter said.
He
is charged with complicity in the killing of about 900 protesters in
the uprising that forced him out of office last year. If convicted,
Mubarak could face the death penalty by hanging. Five of the former
president's top security officials face the same charges.
Public opinion
Mubarak, his two sons and a business associate face corruption charges in a separate case.
In
the memo, the former president said the demonstrators had "legitimate"
demands, but accused them of provoking and attacking security forces. He
also voiced confidence that Egyptians would exonerate him, and called
on them to ignore those who he said were receiving foreign funds to sow
sedition in Egypt.
Mubarak's regime accused foreigners of
fomenting unrest when he was still in office, and the military rulers
who took power after his fall levelled the same allegations at some of
those protesting against military rule.
"Despite everything, I am
totally confident in the fairness and justice of the Egyptian
judiciary. I am totally confident in history's judgment, and totally
confident in the great Egyptian people's judgment - free from the
allegations of the tendentious and those seeking to sow sedition, and
those receiving foreign funding."
Khaled Abou Bakr, another
lawyer representing families of slain protesters, said Mubarak's letter
is directed more at public opinion than at the court.
The former president declined to speak to the court in the closing arguments - an understandable decision, said Abou Bakr.
"Mubarak
wants people to hear him. Lawyers won't let him speak, and will get
rowdy, interrupt him and could humiliate him," Abou Bakr said.
Mubarak
ended his memo with a famous line from an Arab poem, which appeared to
an attempt to win sympathy from his readers and appeal to a
well-respected Arab tradition.
"My country is dear even if it is unjust to me. My people are honourable even if they were unfair to me," he wrote.
Complicated trial
Mubarak's
first appearance in court on August 03, lying down on a gurney behind
bars, was a sign for many of the end of an era. It was also the first
trial of an Arab leader by his own people, and was celebrated as the
beginning of the end of decades of impunity for officials accused of
torture, corruption and abuse.
But the trial has dragged on, and after first being televised, was ordered off the air for alleged national security reasons.
It
also became clear to many that the case against Mubarak and his senior
security aides was weak, prompting many to view it as a little more than
a political play which was only forced upon the country's military
rulers because of persistent protests calling for retribution.
Lawyer
Mohammed el-Damaty, one of the many representing the families of those
killed in the protests, said the judicial system is incapable of dealing
with such a complicated trial, particularly during a transitional
period, when the burden of proof rests in the hands of authorities that
he said were still loyal to Mubarak. He said a special court should have
been set up to try Mubarak and his aides.
He said Mubarak's memo to the court suggested that he still believes he is Egypt's president.
"It
is hard to believe that after being on top of the world, you are now at
the bottom," he said. "The letter is as if he is still in the
pre-uprising era."
-SAPA