"Bordering on Terrorism: Turkey’s Syria Policy and the Rise of the Islamic State"
I haven't read this because I couldn't get it to load right. It was a part of the article:U.S. on collision course with Turkey
However, the title looked interesting and maybe the article is interesting too.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
U.S. on collision course with Turkey
The US Is On A Collision Course With An 'Absolutely Indispensable' Ally
The US and Turkey are headed for a showdown...Business InsiderFollow Yahoo Finance
Sun, Nov 30, 2014, 2:47 AM EST - U.S. Markets closedThe US Is On A Collision Course With An 'Absolutely Indispensable' Ally
REUTERS/Jason Reed U.S. President Barack Obama checks to see if he still needs the umbrella held by a U.S. Marine to protect him from the rain during a joint news conference with then-Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, May 16, 2013.By Michael B Kelley 3 hours agoThe US and Turkey are headed for a showdown over Syria, as evidence mounts that Ankara is enabling groups that Washington is actively bombing.Discord between the two allies is now more public than ever following a new report by Dr. Jonathan Schanzer and Merve Tahiroglu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
"Bordering on Terrorism: Turkey’s Syria Policy and the Rise of the Islamic State" details Tu rkey's apparent willingness to allow extremists — including militants from the Islamic State (aka IS, ISIS, or ISIL) — and their enablers to thrive on the 565-mile border with Syria in an attempt to secure the downfall of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
"The IS crisis has put Turkey and the US on a collision course," the report says. "Turkey refuses to allow the coalition to launch military strikes from its soil. Its military also merely looked on while IS besieged the Kurdish town of Kobani, just across its border. Turkey negotiated directly with IS in the summer of 2013 to release 49 Turks held by the terrorist group. In return, Ankara reportedly secured the release of 180 IS fighters, many of whom returned to the battlefield.
"Meanwhile, the border continues to serve as a transit point for the illegal sale of oil, the transfer of weapons, and the flow of foreign fighters. Inside Turkey, IS has also established cells for recruiting militants and other logistical operations. All of this has raised questions about Turkey’s value as an American ally, and its place in the NATO alliance."
REUTERS/Murad Sezer U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) meets with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan at Beylerbeyi Palace in Istanbul November 22, 2014. Schanzer, a former counterterrorism analyst for the US Treasury Department, told Business Insider that Ankara was "like that guy at the casino who keeps doubling down on a bad bet. Each time the policy has failed, Turkey appears to have decided to go back and do it again, but with higher stakes."
Throughout the Syrian civil war, Turkey's southern border has served as a transit point for cheap oil, weapons, foreign fighters, and pillaged antiquities . As the conflict progressed, the fighters taking advantage of Ankara's lax border policies were more and more radical.
"What began with scattered opposition forces exploiting the border became something that was really focused on the Muslim Brotherhood, which then became something that was utilized by [Salafist rebel group] Ahrar al Sham, which was then utilized by [al-Qaeda affiliate] The Nusra Front, which is now utilized by ISIS," Schanzer told Business Insider.
He added that given various reports of jihadi financiers sitting in hotels on the border between Syria and Turkey, "it is impossible that [Turkey's intelligence agency] MIT is not aware" of what's going on.
The financiers "are doling out cash to those who come back with videos of attacks, proof of what they've done against the Assad regime or other enemies," said Schanzer, who previously detailed Turkey's terrorism finance problem to Business Insider. Those videos are then used as propaganda to raise more money for funding fighters.
America's Role
REUTERS/Jason Reed The report notes that policy of the administration of US President Barack Obama regarding Syria may have indirectly instigated Turkey's dangerous policy.
After supporting Turkey's cause of ousting Assad, Washington didn't follow up with significant support to the mo derate opposition while Assad dropped Scud missiles and barrel bombs on playgrounds and bakeries.
Obama then balked at enforcing his "red line" after Assad's forces killed an estimated 1,400 people in four hours by firing rockets filled with nerve gas on rebel-held territory near the capital.
"I was in Turkey during the Ghouta attacks, and [Turkish officials] were incredulous," Schanzer said. "They believed that the United States was squarely behind [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, not only just in terms of steering Syria into soft landing, but also that it would back up its words with deeds and take action in light of an ongoing slaughter.
"So I think in a sense once it became clear that the US was not going to be holding to its word, there was a sense among the Turks that they had to do this themselves."
REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis Turkish soldiers watch fighting between Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants, from atop a hill overlooking the Syrian town of Kobani, near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in Sanliurfa province November 5, 2014. ISIS And Blowback "Turkey does not have a conflict with ISIS, doesn't want a conflict with ISIS, and ISIS is benefiting from [Turkey's] border policies," Schanzer said. "Beyond that it gets a lot more fuzzy, but the point is that the Turks are not being forthcoming about this relationship."
He added that despite no evidence that Turkey was actively working with ISIS, "it cannot be denied that Turkey is helping to facilitate the activities of a terrorist organization that has killed Americans and is destabilizing the region."
Furthermore, ISIS is gaining a following in the country. The report cites an email from Turkey-based BuzzFeed reporter Mike Giglio that highlighted his concern about the "level of ISIS support among the 1-million-plus Syrians living in Turkey. I don't see how they can successfully weed out ISIS supporters from among these refugees."
Reuters A look at the border between Turkey and Syria as of mid-September. Schanzer said that as the suspected presence of ISIS inside Turkey increased, and with it support inside Turkey for ISIS and other extremist groups, it becomes that much more difficult for Turkey to do anything.
"They've inadvertently created a mechanism that can yield blowback for them that could be extremely painful," Schanzer said. "You have a lot of people now that are invested in the business of extremism in Turkey. If you start to challenge that, it raises significant questions of whether" the militants, their benefactors, and other war profiteers would tolerate the crackdown.
Impossible To Maintain Tensions between Ankara and Washington won't dissipate "so long as Turkey tries to remain neutral with regard to ISIS while all of these things are happening on its border," according to Schanzer.
Consequently, the report argues, Washington must find a way to work with Turkey. Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel described Turkey as " absolutely indispensable " to the ISIS fight. Turkey would need to shut down the border, wrap up known nodes of Nusra and ISIS supporters, remove ISIS recruitment cells, and dismantle ISIS logistical operations inside the country. (Schanzer noted that the US or NATO could assist.)
REUTERS/Ints Kalnins Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan listens during a news conference in Riga October 23, 2014. "A lot of this is going to come down to the will of Ankara right now," Schanzer said, adding that a lack of cooperation could result in Treasury Department sanctions against "individuals who are taking an active role in these illicit pipelines" on the Turkish side of the border.
"After that, I think we do begin to question whether security or intelligence cooperation can continue when there isn't an honest give and take with what's happened," Schanzer added.
The report concludes that Ankara must understand that "while America's Syria policy may have been feckless, its border policy has been reckless." And the repercussions of doubling down even further would jeopardize relations with a crucial ally.
"No one wants to scuttle this relationship. But I do think that as more and more of this comes to light, it becomes ... essentially impossible to maintain the status quo," Schanzer said. "If we've decided that ISIS is an enemy worth defeating, it becomes impossible to maintain the relationship as it is."
end quote from:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-collision-course-absolutely-indispensable-042855557.html
Darren Wilson's Testimony
This has to be the most interesting thing I have read yet on this. First, the officer suspects Brown of stealing from a convenience store which he did some Cigarillos (small cigars) then it sort of gets out of hand between the two of them after that. Whether it is racial or whether both men are having the worst day of their lives it is hard to tell from what people said happened including the officer.
The strangest thing of all to me is that I had to read this on bbc.com from England to hear about all this.
25 November 2014
Last updated at 08:37 ET
Here are extracts from various testimonies:
Police officer Darren Wilson
Mr Wilson said he had initially encountered Mr Brown and a
friend walking in a road and told them to move to the pavement, drawing
an expletive from Mr Brown.
Mr Wilson said he noticed Mr Brown had a handful of cigars. "And that's when it clicked" for him, he said, that the men were suspects in a theft at a convenience store reported minutes earlier.
Prosecutors released this photo of injuries sustained by Mr Wilson
He asked a dispatcher to send additional officers, then reversed his vehicle so that it was in front of Mr Brown and his friend.
As he tried to open the door, Mr Brown slammed it shut. Mr Wilson said he pushed Mr Brown with the door and Mr Brown hit him in the face.
He drew his gun and threatened to shoot if Mr Brown didn't move back, fearing another punch to the face could "knock me out or worse".
Mr Brown immediately grabbed Mr Wilson's gun and said: "You are
too much of a pussy to shoot me." The officer said he thought he was
going to be shot when Mr Brown dug the gun into his hip.
Mr Wilson said he managed to pull the trigger and the gun "clicked" twice without firing, before a shot went through the police car door.
Mr Wilson said Mr Brown stepped back and then looked at him with the "most intense, aggressive face".
"The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon, that's how angry he looked. He comes back towards me again with his hands up."
Mr Wilson said he covered his face and fired the gun again, firing two shots in the car before Mr Brown ran off and he followed him.
When Mr Brown stopped, Mr Wilson told him to get on the ground. He said he fired a series of shots when Mr Brown kept coming towards him and put his right hand under his shirt in the waistband of his trousers.
He said he fired another round of shots as Mr Brown continued to gain on him, approaching as if he was going to tackle him.
Read more of Darren Wilson's testimony (Warning: Explicit language)
Michael Brown's friend: Dorian Johnson
Mr Johnson said he was stunned when Mr Brown stole cigarillos
from the store and expected to be arrested while they were walking home.
Mr Wilson drove on after originally telling them to get on the pavement, reversing his vehicle and coming back at the pair after they ignored his demand.
Dorian Johnson said he thought the pair would be arrested
"After he pulled back, there was no more sidewalk talk, it was nothing, it was just anger."
He said Mr Wilson had opened his door suddenly, striking Mr Brown, then closed the door and grabbed Mr Brown by the neck. He said the two men engaged in a "tug of war", each holding on to the other's shirt and arms.
As the two wrestled, Mr Johnson said he heard Mr Wilson say: "I'll shoot." He said he never saw Mr Brown punch Mr Wilson and did not think he grabbed the officer's gun.
Mr Johnson described being in shock as he realised the situation was getting out of control.
"At the time I couldn't open my mouth. I couldn't speak.. I can see and hear the cuss words. I can see the frowns on their faces getting more intense."
After the initial shots were fired, Mr Johnson said he and Mr Brown ran off. After Mr Wilson shot again, he said Mr Brown stopped running and turned to face the officer.
"At that time Big Mike's hands was up, but not so much in the
air because he had been struck... he said I don't have a gun but he's
still mad, he still has his angry face. I don't have a gun... And before
he can say the second sentence or before he can even get it out, that's
when several more shots came."
Mr Johnson was asked if Mr Brown ran at the officer prior to the fatal volley. He insisted he did not.
Unnamed witness 1
He was working in a nearby building and saw Mr Brown leaning
through the police car window and "some sort of confrontation was taking
place".
He said a shot rang out and Mr Brown fled as the officer chased him with his gun drawn.
The witness said Mr Brown stopped and turned but never raised his hands. He said Mr Brown "ran towards the officer full charge". The officer then fired several shots but Mr Brown kept rushing toward him.
Unnamed witness 2
She and her husband were visiting a nearby apartment complex when they saw the shooting.
She said after the first two shots were fired, Mr Brown began running from Mr Wilson's vehicle but stopped, turned around and started heading toward Mr Wilson, who shot at him.
When asked if it appeared Mr Brown was approaching Mr Wilson in a threatening manner, she said: "No, he wasn't... I think he was stunned."
end quote from:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30189966
Ferguson decision: Darren Wilson's testimony
The St Louis County prosecutor's office has released the full grand jury report after its decision not to charge Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson over the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.
The 12-person jury heard more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses, many giving conflicting statements.Here are extracts from various testimonies:
Mr Wilson said he noticed Mr Brown had a handful of cigars. "And that's when it clicked" for him, he said, that the men were suspects in a theft at a convenience store reported minutes earlier.
Prosecutors released this photo of injuries sustained by Mr Wilson
As he tried to open the door, Mr Brown slammed it shut. Mr Wilson said he pushed Mr Brown with the door and Mr Brown hit him in the face.
He drew his gun and threatened to shoot if Mr Brown didn't move back, fearing another punch to the face could "knock me out or worse".
Mr Wilson said he managed to pull the trigger and the gun "clicked" twice without firing, before a shot went through the police car door.
Mr Wilson said Mr Brown stepped back and then looked at him with the "most intense, aggressive face".
"The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon, that's how angry he looked. He comes back towards me again with his hands up."
Mr Wilson said he covered his face and fired the gun again, firing two shots in the car before Mr Brown ran off and he followed him.
When Mr Brown stopped, Mr Wilson told him to get on the ground. He said he fired a series of shots when Mr Brown kept coming towards him and put his right hand under his shirt in the waistband of his trousers.
Read more of Darren Wilson's testimony (Warning: Explicit language)
Mr Wilson drove on after originally telling them to get on the pavement, reversing his vehicle and coming back at the pair after they ignored his demand.
Dorian Johnson said he thought the pair would be arrested
He said Mr Wilson had opened his door suddenly, striking Mr Brown, then closed the door and grabbed Mr Brown by the neck. He said the two men engaged in a "tug of war", each holding on to the other's shirt and arms.
As the two wrestled, Mr Johnson said he heard Mr Wilson say: "I'll shoot." He said he never saw Mr Brown punch Mr Wilson and did not think he grabbed the officer's gun.
"At the time I couldn't open my mouth. I couldn't speak.. I can see and hear the cuss words. I can see the frowns on their faces getting more intense."
After the initial shots were fired, Mr Johnson said he and Mr Brown ran off. After Mr Wilson shot again, he said Mr Brown stopped running and turned to face the officer.
Mr Johnson was asked if Mr Brown ran at the officer prior to the fatal volley. He insisted he did not.
He said a shot rang out and Mr Brown fled as the officer chased him with his gun drawn.
The witness said Mr Brown stopped and turned but never raised his hands. He said Mr Brown "ran towards the officer full charge". The officer then fired several shots but Mr Brown kept rushing toward him.
She said after the first two shots were fired, Mr Brown began running from Mr Wilson's vehicle but stopped, turned around and started heading toward Mr Wilson, who shot at him.
When asked if it appeared Mr Brown was approaching Mr Wilson in a threatening manner, she said: "No, he wasn't... I think he was stunned."
end quote from:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30189966
Timberline Lodge at Sunset
This is a cool picture of Timberline Lodge at around 6000 feet on the side of Mt. Hood in Oregon. The temperature outside is somewhere likely between about 5 and 15 degrees Fahrenheit right now. This photo was likely taken some year between February and April.
ISIL Launches attack on Syria's Kobani from Turkey
ISIS Launches Attack On Syria's Kobani From Turkey: Activists
| By
BASSEM MROUE
Posted:
Updated:
The assault began when a suicide bomber driving an armored vehicle detonated his explosives on the border crossing between Kobani and Turkey, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria's powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party.
The Islamic State group "used to attack the town from three sides," Khalil said. "Today, they are attacking from four sides."
Turkey, while previously backing the Syrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad in that country's civil war, has been hesitant to aid them in Kobani because it fears that could stoke Kurdish ambitions for an independent state.
A Turkish government statement on Saturday confirmed that one of the suicide attacks involved a bomb-loaded vehicle that detonated on the Syrian side of the border. But it denied that the vehicle had crossed into Kobani through Turkey, which would be a first for the extremist fighters.
"Claims that the vehicle reached the border gate by crossing through Turkish soil are a lie," read the statement released from the government press office at the border town of Suruc. "Contrary to certain claims, no Turkish official has made any statement claiming that the bomb-loaded vehicle had crossed in from Turkey."
"The security forces who are on alert in the border region have ... taken all necessary measures," the statement continued.
Associated Press journalists saw thick black smoke rise over Kobani during the attack. The sound of heavy gunfire echoed through the surrounding hills as armored vehicles took up positions on the border. The Observatory said heavy fighting also took place southwest of the town where the Islamic State group brought in tanks to reinforce their fighters.
Video from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights purporting to show ISIS militants firing from inside Turkish territory:
Mustafa Bali, a Kobani-based activist, said by telephone that Islamic State group fighters have taken positions in the grain silos on the Turkish side of the border and from there are launching attacks toward the border crossing point. He added that the U.S.-led coalition launched an airstrike Saturday morning on the eastern side of the town.
"It is now clear that Turkey is openly cooperating with Daesh," Bali said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. Later in the day, he said the situation was relatively calm on the border after a day of heavy clashes.
The Islamic State group claimed three suicide attacks in Kobani's border crossing point, the SITE Intelligence Group reported. The group, quoting Twitter accounts linked to the militants, said the suicide attacks were carried out by a Saudi and a Turkmen, adding that one of them was driving a Humvee.
The Islamic State group began its Kobani offensive in mid-September, capturing parts of the town as well as dozens of nearby villages. The town later became the focus of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition against the militants.
Kurdish fighters slowly have been advancing in Kobani since late October, when dozens of well-armed Iraqi peshmerga fighters joined fellow Syrian Kurds in the battles. The fighting has killed hundreds of fighters on both sides over the past two months.
The Observatory said Saturday the latest fighting killed at least eight Kurdish fighters and 17 jihadis.
Syria's Foreign Minister said in a television interview aired Friday night that the U.S.-led coalition's weeks of airstrikes against militants in Syria had not weakened the Islamic State group. Washington and the U.N. Security Council "should force Turkey to tighten control" of its border in order to help defeat militants, he added.
"Is Daesh today, after two months of coalition airstrikes, weaker? All indications show that it is not weaker," al-Moallem told Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV.
The Islamic State group has declared a self-styled Islamic caliphate in areas under its control in Iraq and Syria, governing it according to its violent interpretation of Shariah law. The group has carried out mass killings targeting government security forces, ethnic minorities and others against it.
Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed to this report from Ankara, Turkey.
end quote from:
| Huffington Post | - |
The
assault began when a suicide bomber driving an armored vehicle
detonated his explosives on the border crossing between Kobani and
Turkey, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria's ...
Egyptian Judges Drop All Charges Against Mubarak
Egyptian Judges Drop All Charges Against Mubarak
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CAIRO — An Egyptian court dropped all remaining criminal charges against former President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday in a sweeping ...
Egypt judge drops murder charges against Mubarak, acquits on illicit ...
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Egyptian Judges Drop All Charges Against Mubarak
CAIRO — An Egyptian court dropped all remaining criminal charges against former President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday in a sweeping repudiation of the Arab Spring uprising that forced him from power.
The
court dismissed murder charges against Mr. Mubarak in the killing of
protesters demanding an end to his 30-year rule — charges that once
inspired crowds to hang the president’s effigy from the lampposts of
Tahrir Square in Cairo and captivated the region. His reviled security
chief and a half-dozen top police officials were acquitted.
The
court also acquitted Mr. Mubarak, his two sons and a wealthy business
associate of corruption charges; the three others had come to personify
the rampant self-dealing of Mr. Mubarak’s era as much as the president
himself.
If
normal legal procedures are followed, Mr. Mubarak could soon go free
for the first time since his top generals removed him from power amid a
popular revolt in 2011, although it was not clear whether those rules
would be adhered to.
About
1,000 demonstrators gathered around Tahrir Square at night to protest
the decision, but heavily armed security forces had closed off the
traffic circle. By 9 p.m., the police were firing tear gas and birdshot
to drive away the crowds, and by midnight state news media reported that
at least one person had been killed and more than 85 were arrested.
More
than five months after the inauguration of a military-backed strongman,
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the authorities appeared to calculate
that the Egyptian public was so weary of unrest that it had lost a
desire for retribution against Mr. Mubarak, or at least that they now
had a firm enough grip to suppress any backlash.
“Today’s
verdict indicates a very deliberate decision by the regime to continue
on the path of rewriting the history that led to Mubarak’s ouster and
closing the file on the Jan. 25 revolution,” said Hossam Bahgat, a
journalist and human rights advocate who had cheered on that revolt and
is now studying in New York.
The
council of generals who took power from Mr. Mubarak had feared a public
backlash too much to ever allow the former president’s release, but Mr.
Sisi’s government felt no such compunction, Mr. Bahgat said. “They are
not afraid. They are perfectly capable of letting him walk free, and
they feel no pressure to hold him accountable.”
Mr.
Mubarak, 86, who has been held at a military hospital because of frail
health, appeared in court on a stretcher in sunglasses, a blue necktie
and sweater. He remained stone-faced as the chief judge, Mahmoud Kamel
al-Rashidi, read the verdict. Only at the end did he allow himself a
smile as his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, hugged and kissed him.
A
short time later, Mr. Mubarak was photographed waving to admirers from a
hospital balcony. In a telephone interview with a supportive,
pro-government talk show host, the former president scoffed at an
earlier guilty verdict against him. “I laughed when I heard the first
verdict,” he said. He suggested a conspiracy had been behind the 2011
uprising.
“They
turned on us,” he said, and when asked if he meant “the Americans,” he
replied that he could not explain over the phone. “I can’t tell you if
it’s the Americans or who.”
Judge
Rashidi, who led a panel of three judges, did not elaborate from the
bench on their reasoning, pointing instead to a 280-page summary of
their 1,340-page explanation of the case.
He
insisted that the ruling had “nothing to do with politics.” He
acknowledged the “feebleness” and corruption of Mr. Mubarak’s later
years in power, and he saluted the rallying cry of the 2011 revolution —
bread, freedom and social justice.
But
at other times he sounded sympathetic to the former president. “To rule
for or against him after he has become old will be left to history and
the Judge of Judges,” he said.
Judge
Rashidi did not explain from the bench why he had dismissed the murder
charges. Legal analysts said the judge had faulted the way Mr. Mubarak
had been added to an existing case. He acquitted Mr. Mubarak and his
friend the businessman Hussein Salem of corruption charges involving
allegations that they had conspired to sell Egyptian natural gas to
Israel at below-market prices. And he acquitted Mr. Mubarak and his sons
of charges that Mr. Salem gave them vacation homes on the Red Sea as
kickbacks in a land deal. (Mr. Salem fled to Spain in 2011 and was tried
in absentia.)
In
May, Mr. Mubarak was sentenced to three years in prison in a separate
corruption case involving lavish, government-funded improvements to his
and his sons’ private homes. But he has now spent more than three years
in custody on various charges, and under Egyptian law he has thus served
the requisite time and could be released.
Egypt’s public prosecutor said Saturday that he would appeal the new decision.
Sayid
Abdel Latif, whose son Mohamed was a demonstrator killed by police in
the uprising, said he had given up hope for justice. “Is there anyone
who would put himself on trial? Mubarak’s regime is still in place,” he
said.
“The January revolution is over; they ended it,” he said. “We thought Sisi would bring us our rights, but he is one of them.”
The
first sessions of Mr. Mubarak’s trial were often rowdy and loud, with a
courtroom full of human rights lawyers demanding retribution for the
demonstrators who had been killed and for decades of brutal autocracy.
But
the changed context was evident from the start. Judge Rashidi warned
that anyone who interrupted his reading of the decision would be
sentenced to a year in jail, and the spectators stayed obediently quiet.
And
the courtroom was packed with Mubarak supporters instead of human
rights lawyers. As soon as the judge finished, the room erupted in
jubilation.
Commentators
in the state-run and pro-government news media suggested that it was
time to move on from the 2011 revolution and its messy aftermath. “We
have to turn this page, and the long state of argument that has lasted
for years,” Dalia Ziada, director of the Liberal Democracy Institute and
a supporter of Mr. Sisi, said in an interview.
But
with Mr. Mubarak no longer on trial, she also suggested that it might
be time to explore a favorite theory of Mubarak supporters: that the
demonstrators had been shot not by the police, but by Islamists with the
Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood dominated Egypt’s free elections,
but has been outlawed and suppressed under Mr. Sisi; the pro-government
news media has sometimes floated improbable scenarios in which the
Brotherhood both participated in the demonstrations and shot at the
demonstrators.
“Who
killed the protesters?” Ms. Ziada asked, suggesting that investigators
examine “all sides accused, even those that were maybe not present in
today’s case — for example, the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Legal experts said the ultimate outcome of the case had been increasingly clear, in part because of a flawed prosecution.
Prosecutors
originally appointed by Mr. Mubarak had rushed the charges to court in
the months after his ouster to appease the public’s wrath at their
former ruler. But the murder charges were difficult to prove because of
the many layers in the Egyptian military’s chain of command and the
broad latitude for self-defense given to the police. Lawyers for victims
often complained that security forces were withholding evidence or
refusing to cooperate.
The
corruption charges appeared to have been thrown together hastily,
without a thorough review of the many other allegations related to Mr.
Mubarak’s rule.
Mr.
Mubarak first faced the same charges in a trial that ended in 2012,
while the transitional council of military generals was still in power.
Evidently bowing to political pressure, that judge sentenced Mr. Mubarak
to life in prison for the killings of the protesters but simultaneously
acknowledged a lack of evidence. He acquitted everyone below Mr.
Mubarak in the chain of command within the security forces, and threw
out land-related corruption charges on technical grounds and ruled
against the gas charges.
An appeals court threw out the verdict and ordered the retrial that ended in Saturday’s decision.
“The
judges were basically collaborating with Mubarak from the first scene,”
said Khaled Ali, a human rights lawyer and former presidential
candidate. “It was not a trial, just a game they are playing with the
people, to relieve them and then enslave them again.”
The
political climate now is starkly different. Mr. Sisi, the former
general who last year led the military takeover that ousted Egypt’s
elected Islamist government, has consolidated power and surrounded
himself with former Mubarak advisers.
State-run
and pro-government news media now routinely denounce the pro-democracy
activists who led the 2011 uprising as a “fifth column” out to undermine
the state. Some of the most prominent activists are in prison, and the
Islamists who won free elections are now jailed as terrorists along with
thousands of their supporters.
Mohamed
Morsi, the deposed president and a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, is
now facing several trials in the same courtroom, some for charges that
could carry the death penalty.
As
the prison doors revolve, many of the most despised figures of the
Mubarak era, such as Ahmed Ezz, the ruling party power broker and
business tycoon, have already been released on charges brought against
them in the heat of the 2011 uprising.
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