Monday, March 27, 2017

Egypt Roared as Mubarak Fell. It’s Mute as He’s Freed.


The corrupt military dictatorship of Egypt, true to form (Declan Walsh, "Egypt Roared as Mubarak Fell. It’s Mute as He’s Freed", New York Times, March 24, 2017 ):
Six years after roaring crowds ousted him at the peak of the Arab Spring, former President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was freed early Friday from the Cairo hospital where he had been detained, capping a long and largely fruitless effort to hold him accountable for human rights abuses and endemic corruption during his three decades of rule. [...] Although Mr. Mubarak faced a wide range of charges, he was ultimately convicted on a single relatively minor corruption charge. [...] Some of the criminal counts against him carried the death penalty. He was accused of having conspired with the police to kill 239 protesters in Tahrir Square; of having siphoned tens of millions of dollars from state coffers; and of having cut off the country’s internet access during the 2011 uprising, among other crimes. [...]  it was becoming clear to many Egyptians that while Mr. Mubarak had gone, the system he controlled — with the military, security agencies and courts in the background — remained firmly in place and would not cede power easily to restless young protesters. The first democratic election, in 2012, brought to power a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Morsi. But he lasted only a year, making a series of political blunders that cost him the support of the military, crucial parts of the security apparatus and millions of Egyptians, who gathered in the streets in June 2013 to call for his removal [...] The military obliged on July 3 and installed General Sisi, its top commander, who cleared Brotherhood protesters from central Cairo with a massacre of at least 800 people by the security forces in August 2013. [...]  In speeches, Mr. Sisi pays lip service to the 2011 uprising. But in practice, he has crushed dissent, imprisoned tens of thousands of opponents and sought to consolidate his grip in Parliament, business and the security services — including many Mubarak-era officials and supporters. He has also allowed Mr. Mubarak’s closest allies, many fabulously wealthy through nepotism and corruption, to return to civilian life. The release of Mr. Mubarak, the last person of his government still in detention, ends that process. 
The archeology lobby, in order to get the excavation permits they desire, is hand-in-hand with this corrupt regime, and the anti-collecting cabal intends to repatriate items seized from honest collectors to this dishonest farcical pseudo-state.

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