Mubarak's release signals Egyptian change

[Haia]

News reports say prosecutors will not challenge the decision to free the former president.

CAIRO — An Egyptian court on Wednesday ordered Hosni Mubarak's release as sweeping arrests, a massive news media campaign against dissent and a repressive security network were in full swing.
The decision came amid a slew of signs that indicate a return to a repressive and unaccountable government — at least in the short-term — as the nation presses ahead with a contested and violent political transition.
"Mubarak's release would only sound natural in the environment we're seeing right now, unfortunately," said Ziad Abdel Tawab, deputy director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.
"It doesn't really make a big difference if Mubarak is back because all the symptoms of Mubarak have been back," he said.
Egypt's Prime Minister Hezam el-Beblawi ordered later on Wednesday that Mubarak be placed under house arrest after his release, the Associated Press reported, which prison officials said could be as early as Thursday.
"Shameful, shameful, shameful," said Hamza Zobaa, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. "There is no revolution."
But some Egyptians welcomed news of his possible freedom. A Facebook page rooting for Mubarak as president of Egypt in 2014 had almost 2,000 "likes" on Wednesday and reports said some people cheered at the news. Many remember Mubarak's era as a time of stability and security, which have vanished since his ouster.
"With Mubarak we felt safe, slept soundly, and opened our shops normally," said Umm Ahmed, a bread seller in Cairo, long before she even heard of his possible release.
Many expect Mubarak would go to Sharm El Sheikh or Hurghada, both resort cities on the Red Sea, said Ziad Akl, a senior researcher at Cairo's Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
"(Or) it would be something that is kept secret, some kind of an army safe house somewhere and no one really know where it is," he said.
But analysts and some Egyptians said Mubarak is just the icing on the cake as Egypt sees growing signs of return to the old older.
"I don't think Mubarak is relevant anymore," said Khaled Dawoud, spokesman of the liberal Dostour Party. "We are going through much more trouble than just Mubarak."
Abdel Tawab said Egypt's revolution died a long time ago, beginning when the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took control after Mubarak's ouster.
Following that, authorities over the next 17 months committed violations that countered the revolution's ideals: Freedom, social justice and dignity. They continued the systematic torture that was symptomatic of Mubarak's police state, launched a crackdown on non-governmental groups, employed excessive use of force and attacked freedom of expression.
The practices persisted under Mohammed Morsi, the first freely elected president of Egypt who took office in June 2012. His government sought to pass a restrictive NGO law and took steps that led to political exclusion, division and the passing of a contested constitution.
He also failed to lay groundwork that might have prevented Mubarak's release, youth activists said. Under Morsi, Mubarak was granted a retrial for failing to prevent the killing of protesters after he was previously sentenced to life in prison.
"What's happening right now is not the death of the Jan. 25 uprising, but rather the consequences of the death of the Jan. 25 uprising a long time ago," Abdel Tawab said.

[Mary Naeem]

Merci, Haia