Inside Story

All the president’s trials

Will the trial of Hosni Mubarak, the former president of Egypt, mark a turning point for the country?

On Wednesday, an 83-year-old man went on trial in Cairo, charged with corruption and premeditated murder. The former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, who was flown in from Sharm El Sheikh, was wheeled into a cage in the courtroom on a hospital bed to stand trial alongside his sons.

Pleading ‘not guilty,’ each will face a litany of  questions about what exactly happened in January, 2011 and why nearly 850 people were killed and more than 6,000 wounded in the uprising which toppled the Egyptian leadership.

It is not just the Mubarak men on trial – Habib al-Adly, the former interior minister, and six of his senior officers are also in the dock.

In this show we ask: Will the trial bring justice? Will it defuse Egyptian rage? And will it mark a turning point in Egypt’s history?

Inside Story discusses with guests: Abdullah Al Ashal, a professor of international law at the American University in Cairo; Daniel Newman, a professor of arabic studies at Durham University; and Ahmed Naguib, the co-founder of the Council of Trustees of the Revolution in Egypt.

This episode of Inside Story aired on Wednesday, August 3, 2011.