Egypt’s Mubarak Trial a Sign of the Times

A judge looking into the case against Egypt’s thirty-year dictator and once reviled enemy of the January 25 revolution, Hosni Mubarak, dropped charges against him related to the deaths of more than 800 protesters during the ten-day uprising that led to his ouster. The judge handed down the verdict on November 29, dropping the charges–neither convicting nor acquitting him–on procedural grounds. Although the case remains subject to appeal, supporters celebrated the judge’s decision as vindication against a revolutionary movement now blasted as a foreign and Islamist conspiracy.

Photographer Jonathan Rashad captured a glimpse of the energy felt outside the courtroom that day in a new photoessay on EgyptSource, “The Mubarak Verdict: A Firsthand Account [Photo Essay].” His photos capture the counterrevolutionary sentiment that longs for the calm and stability–if also stagnation–of the Mubarak years. Click here to view Rashad’s photos of that day.

North Africa

Image: (Photo: Jonathan Rashad)