CAIRO, June 2: Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak and his security chief were given life in prison on Saturday over the deaths of protesters in 2011, but the acquittal of six police chiefs sparked calls for mass protest.

Judge Ahmed Refaat sentenced the 84-year-old former leader and his interior minister Habib al-Adly to life for their role in the deaths of protesters during the revolt that ousted them, but acquitted the six security commanders on the same charges.

A senior lawyer for Mubarak’s defence team said the strongman, who was taken to a Cairo prison after the hearing, will appeal the sentence.
But once at Tora prison on Cairo’s outskirts, a tearful Mubarak refused to leave the aircraft, and security officials said he “suffered from a surprise health crisis” before they finally convinced him to go in.

The verdict prompted outrage both inside and outside the courtroom.

“Void, void” and “The people want the judiciary purged” could be heard, as furious lawyers said they feared Mubarak would be found innocent on appeal.

The powerful Muslim Brotherhood said it had called for mass protests nationwide, while other groups including the pro-democracy April 6 movement announced they would take to the streets in protest.

Rights groups slammed the verdict as failing to deliver full justice.

Mubarak’s sentence “is a significant step towards combating longstanding impunity in Egypt” but the security chiefs’ acquittal “leaves many still waiting for full justice”, Amnesty International said in a statement.

“Many see the acquittal of all the senior security officials as a sign that those responsible for human rights violations can still escape justice,” it said.

“The verdict fails to deliver justice, it fails to deter police from future abuse and it comes against the backdrop of acquittals in police trials,” Heba Morayef, Cairo-based researcher for Human Rights Watch, said.

Corruption charges against Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and Gamal, were dropped because of the expiry of a statute of limitations, and the former president was acquitted in one of the graft cases.

“We will appeal. The ruling is full of legal flaws from every angle,” Yasser Bahr, a senior member of Mubarak’s defence team, said.

Asked if Mubarak was likely to win the appeal, Bahr said: “We will win, one million per cent.”

Mubarak, in sunglasses and wearing a beige track-suit, had his arms folded and showed no emotion inside the caged dock as Chief Judge Ahmed Refaat read the verdict.

Alaa and Gamal, looking tired with dark circles under their eyes, appeared close to tears on hearing the verdict.

“It’s vindicating to Egyptians to see Mubarak and his interior minister sentenced to life, but the verdict raises more questions than answers,” said Hossam Bahgat, the director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, who was outside the court with members of the victims’ families.

“The court appears to have found no evidence that the killings were committed by policemen.

“It seems the court convicted Mubarak and Adly for failing to prevent the killings,” Bahgat said.

“It’s 100 per cent certain that this will go to appeal and the court is very likely to order a retrial,” said Bahgat, a respected activist and lawyer.

In delivering the ruling, Judge Refaat painted a grim picture of life under Mubarak, listing hardship after hardship suffered during his three-decade rule.

He said some “went hungry” and spoke of conditions in the “rotting slums.”

Refaat said the protesters who joined in the 2011 uprising in Cairo’s Tahrir Square were “peaceful” and wanted only “justice, freedom and democracy”.

Clashes erupted outside the courtroom after the sentencing, with police resorting to stun grenades to control angry crowds