No Pain, No Gain ;O): lawyer

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Friday, June 22, 2012

Mubarak health scare started with fall in bathroom, lawyer says

Hosni Mubarak was convicted of ordering security forces to kill anti-government protesters and this month was given a life term.Mubarak developed a blood clot when he hurt his neck in the fall, his lawyer saysHe's in the ICU at Maadi Military HospitalMubarak's in the same hospital where his predecessor died

Cairo (CNN) -- The recent health crisis for former Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak started when he slipped in a prison bathroom, his attorney told CNN Thursday.

The ousted strongman hurt his neck and developed a blood clot after the fall in Tora prison, attorney Farid El Deeb said.

El Deeb said Mubarak was taken off life-support equipment and his health improved on Wednesday, a day after grim and contradictory news emerged over the 84-year-old man's health.

The state-run Middle East News Agency reported that he was "clinically dead." The nation's military rulers denied the report, with one general saying Mubarak's health was deteriorating and he was in critical condition.

Mubarak was transferred from Tora prison to Maadi Military Hospital. Now, El Deeb said, his ailing client is out of a coma and under the care of doctors at the facility's intensive care unit.

He said he had warned before that "the prison hospital was not equipped with well-trained nurses or personnel to assist him or proper equipment."

The lawyer said he hadn't been informed about how the latest bout of health problems started because he was in Lebanon when Mubarak fell sick.

"I was getting information by phone with a minute-to-minute update, but I learned that he fell when I returned to Cairo," he said.

The hospital, located minutes away from Tora prison, is under heavy security. Dozens of Mubarak supporters and opponents stood outside the hospital Wednesday and argued. Security forces stepped in to prevent clashes.

Maadi is the same hospital where former president Anwar Sadat died after he was shot in 1981. Mubarak became president after the assassination. He ruled Egypt with an iron hand and as a staunch ally of the United States, which gives the nation $1.3 billion a year in military aid.

More than 800 people died and 6,000 were wounded during the uprising that ended Mubarak's 29-year rule in February 2011.

Mubarak and his former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, were convicted of ordering security forces to kill anti-government protesters and this month were given life terms. But other top aides -- as well as Mubarak's two sons, who had been tried on corruption charges -- were acquitted.

El Deeb appealed the verdict four days after it was issued. He has until August 1 to submit a memo indicating the reasons for the appeal

Prior to his sentencing, Mubarak was already suffering from health problems; he attended court on a gurney. He had been in Tora for 17 days until he was transferred to Maadi.

Egypt's Presidential Election Commission has delayed, from Thursday until a date to be announced, the release of the results of Egypt's presidential election, state-run Nile TV reported Wednesday.

"The committee has not completed the verification of a total of 400 electoral violation reports submitted by the two presidential candidates," said Tarek Shibl, a senior member of electoral committee. "Most probably the announcement of the election results will be delayed a day or two but nothing is final yet."

The results of last weekend's runoff between Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister to serve under Mubarak, and Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, remain uncertain.

Shafik and Mosri each proclaimed himself winner in the race to succeed Mubarak 16 months after a popular uprising ended his three-decade rule.

Military rulers dissolved the lower house of parliament last week, extending their power and sparking accusations of a coup.

The military council announced it had full legislative authority. The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest Islamist group, was the dominant party in the parliament.

Under an interim constitutional declaration released Monday, the military council retains the power to make laws and budget decisions until a new constitution is written and a new parliament elected. The declaration says Supreme Council members "shall decide all matters related to military affairs, including the appointment of its leaders." The president has the power to declare war, it says, but only "after the approval" of the Supreme Council.

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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Health of Egypt's Mubarak "very critical:" lawyer

CAIRO (Reuters) - Deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's health is "very critical" and the 84-year-old should be urgently moved to a hospital from the ill-equipped prison facility he is being held in, his lawyer said on Monday.

Farid el-Deeb told Reuters that Mubarak's condition was worsening and that he had a frequent irregular heart beat.

The ousted leader was jailed for life on June 2 for failing to prevent the killings of protesters who rose up against him. He had been charged with ordering police to open fire. He was sent to Tora prison on the outskirts of Cairo.

Egypt's prison authority had earlier approved a request to let Mubarak's eldest son Alaa, who is being held at the jail pending trial, stay close to him in the prison hospital because of his deteriorating health, security sources said.

But requests from his lawyer and family to move Mubarak to a hospital have not been answered.

Opponents of Mubarak say the former president and those around him were exaggerating his condition to gain public sympathy.

Lawyer Deeb said the judicial officials had not responded to the hospital request because they feared a public backlash.

"This is deliberate murder. This is revenge. I am not saying release him. I am saying take him to a hospital where he can be kept and taken care of," he said.

"The president is in a very bad state. Mubarak's state is very critical and he must be transferred immediately to a hospital. He spent his life in service of the country and this is unacceptable to keep him in this state," Deeb added.

Deeb said authorities had ignored medical records pointing to the ill-health which had kept him in a high-end private hospital for the duration of his trial.

One security source said Mubarak's heart had briefly stopped on Monday and had been restarted by medical staff.

The acquittal for a lack of evidence of six senior police officers charged with the same crime as Mubarak angered many Egyptians who fear the ex-president may win an appeal.

'DETERIORATION IN HEALTH'

Deeb said in June last year that Mubarak was suffering from cancer, although a government minister later appeared to play down that report.

Mubarak had requested his son Alaa be moved close to him after authorities earlier agreed to a similar request to have his youngest son, Gamal, brought next to him.

The state news agency, citing a security source in the Interior Ministry, said prison authorities approved the move in response to "a deterioration in his health".

It also cited a source saying Mubarak suffered from high blood pressure and shortness of breath, prompting the doctors to put him on a respirator.

Gamal, once seen as being groomed for the presidency, and Alaa are being held in Tora prison pending a trial over a case of alleged stock market manipulation. Corruption charges they had faced with their father in his trial were quashed.

The website of state newspaper Al-Ahram said Mubarak was taken outside into the sun to help his recovery and was eating light foods, such as jelly.

Since he was moved to Tora prison hospital from a plush military hospital where he was held during the 10-month trial, speculation has been rife about his state of health. Such speculation also abounded as he aged in office.

Security sources said last week that Mubarak was given artificial respiration five times in one day and doctors recommended he be moved to a military hospital.

He has also reportedly slipped in and out of a coma at times, although prison sources said on Monday he was awake and with his sons.

Mubarak's wife Suzanne and the wives of his two sons visited the ex-president on Sunday, the state news agency said.

(Additional reporting by Ali Abdelatti and Tamim Elyan; Writing by Dina Zayed and Edmund Blair; Editing by Diana Abdallah and Pravin Char)

View the original article here