Read an analysis of the many problems facing Mubarak's trial here.
Justice is said to be blind. But when the defendant is Hosni Mubarak, the former president of Egypt -- whose trial started on Wednesday, Aug. 3, in Cairo -- and the charges include killing protesters and profiteering through abuse of power, courtroom theatrics will inevitably play some part in the proceedings. Sometimes the purpose of a trial isn't so much to achieve objective justice, but to write a new chapter in a country's history -- and in those cases, stentorian speeches about human rights just won't cut it. You wouldn't want the country to mistake the politically freighted proceedings for a purely judicial event.
To be fair, defendant's cages aren't unusual in much of the world, where courtroom proceedings are often closed and judges are accustomed to the sight. But it does seem somewhat pre-Byzantine to those more familiar with Western legal systems that count on a jury's objectivity. And there's a long history of notorious figures pleading from behind bars -- from Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann's famous trial in Jerusalem to Saddam Hussein's courtroom reckoning in Baghdad. Indeed, while transitional justice proceedings usually feature sober assessments of high crimes, the trials themselves are sometimes intended to be part of the punishment: What better way to exact revenge against your former high-and-mighty rulers, after all, than to humiliate them in public?
As for the ousted Mubarak, his first day in court was more humiliating than most. "I deny all these accusations completely," he said, wagging his finger while lying prostrate on a hospital bed that had been wheeled into his courtroom cage. What remains to be seen is whether Mubarak will be given a fair opportunity to make his case. Not all his predecessors who were forced to appear at their trials from behind bars were given that chance.
Egyptian State TV
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MAUROBETTEGA
7:45 PM ET
August 3, 2011
Another one...
Another classic "behing-the-bars" picture: Shining Path's leader Abimael Guzmán during his infamous trial after his arrest in Lima in 1992.
Interesting post!
JEAN KAPENDA
7:57 PM ET
August 3, 2011
Cracking Down on African Tyrants: Zero Tolerance Reversed!
Egypt and Tunisia have taught us a great lesson: you start cracking down on bigger crimes by arresting and prosecuting African criminals-by-right and looters-by-law called tyrants and dictators. Do the same to their bands of thieves, and crime rates for minor offenses will drop! Please do not crack down on street vendors, target the big plates and the smaller plates of criminal activity in Africa will fall into pieces, and there won't be anymore those looters who load trucks with minerals for export and pay no taxes, those criminals who ask for a commission before they assign an oil exploration block to a foreign company, those cross-border mineral traffickers, those bankers whose only job is to siphon billions out of national treasuries to place them into fiscal paradises, those gangsters in uniform who extort, kill and commit all sorts of atrocities, and those to-be-tyrants and looters who only dream of stealing when their turn comes. Zero tolerance reversed in Africa? Why not?
KAMPER
2:08 AM ET
August 4, 2011
The only minor difference
The only minor difference from before is that Egypt is now ruled by a different set of dictators, before it was the Mubarak clan, now its the military junta.
This so-called trial is about nothing more or less than the new dictators putting on a show trial in a kangaroo court of the previous swtor dictator with the verdict already known in advance, all to satisfy the public’s cravings for revenge.
And Egypt under the the military junta is still to this day maintaining its racist apartheid wall around Gaza and its illegal blockade of humanitarian aid and commercial goods import and export to Gaza.
So much for the supposed “new era”.
JOHNPETE
1:21 AM ET
September 4, 2011
Hand Cuffs
We went from handcuffs only, to handcuffs, leg cuffs, waist chains, locked court rooms metal detectors, glass cages (bull dog potty training The only minor difference from before is that Egypt is now ruled by a different set of dictators, before it was the Mubarak clan, now its the military junta. This so-called trial is about nothing more or less than the new dictators putting on a show trial in a kangaroo court of the previous swtor dictator with the verdict already known in advance.
FPFAN2
10:31 AM ET
August 4, 2011
Hannibal Lecter revisited
For every person condemning the criminal before trial, there is another person supporting them and wagging their finger, denying the charges. Even Hannibal Lecter had his fans, didn't he? People never seem to stop to think about from whence the problems stem. Cell in the courtroom now, later the jury can take a field trip to the prison. Does anyone remember that the power begins with the individual? The problems don't start until the individual falls for the lie and gives away their own power in exchange for a bag of cheese doodles and a pat on the back.
MATTHEW2219
6:31 PM ET
August 4, 2011
People in glass cages...
Egypt is not an isolated case.. Lets look closer to home for a comparison.
As a 35 year veteran of California's criminal courts I can say that our so-called "justice system" has been overwhelmed by the "authorities" to a level of paranoia not seen since the creation of the TSA.
We went from handcuffs only, to handcuffs, leg cuffs, waist chains, locked court rooms metal detectors, glass cages (bullet proof of course), extra guards and judges who carry guns under their robes.
Bail is set so high that few can post it. And the odds of being convicted multiple enormously if you are in custody at trial.
We have become our own jailers, living in constant fear of our own making.
JOSSEFPERL
8:22 AM ET
August 5, 2011
Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann's in a Cage?
First, Adolf Eichmann was never in a cage, but protected by a bullet-proof glass to protect him from assasination, given the emotional state of some of his victims present in the courtroom. Saying that he was in a cage is like saying that the Pope is in a cage while traveling in his own vehicle. Second, unlike all the other examples in this article, the trial of Eichman had absolutely nothing to do with Politics or Power, but with bringing the mastermind of the Holocust to justice. Mr. Philip Walker should know better than to include Adolf Eichman's trial here.
QUERTHE
11:09 AM ET
August 8, 2011
Honestly I agree with
Honestly I agree with JOSSEFPERL who has written above that the Eichman´s trial should not be used as a example. There was definitely no Politics of Power connected to that trial. Hopefully, Mubarak will live so long in order to meet the justice as well as the penalty.
Quer The from http://lastlongerguide.com/ crew.
NORTEL
3:12 AM ET
August 11, 2011
This is supposed to stand in
This is supposed to stand in contrast to the Western old republic legal system?
GETLAIDTONIGHT
8:06 AM ET
September 2, 2011
Mubarak defeinitly deserves
Mubarak defeinitly deserves Justice. I doubt he will get a fair trial though. Some of the information on his wikipedia page is constantly changing though, seems like there is a seperate war for truth going on there..
JULIA MIRON
3:08 PM ET
September 2, 2011
Guilty Until Proven Guilty
In the cage of justice, sometimes a courtroom's verdict is long foretold. Egypt is not an isolated case.. Lets look closer to home for a comparison. As a 35 year veteran of California's criminal courts I can say that our so-called "justice system" has been overwhelmed by the "authorities" to a level of paranoia not seen since the creation of the TSA. We went from handcuffs only, to handcuffs, leg cuffs, waist chains, locked court rooms metal detectors, glass cages (bull dog potty training The only minor difference from before is that Egypt is now ruled by a different set of dictators, before it was the Mubarak clan, now its the military junta. This so-called trial is about nothing more or less than the new dictators putting on a show trial in a kangaroo court of the previous swtor dictator with the verdict already known in advance, all to satisfy the public’s cravings for revenge..
HAFIZI84
11:45 AM ET
September 5, 2011
Egypt before and after
The only minor difference from before is that Egypt is now ruled by a different set of dictators, before it was the Mubarak clan, now its the military junta.apple iphone 5
EGISTUBAGUS
8:18 PM ET
September 5, 2011
hi mattew please explain me more about
Egypt is not an isolated case.. Lets look closer to home for a comparison.
As a 35 year veteran of California's criminal courts I can say that our so-called "justice system" has been overwhelmed by the "authorities" to a level of paranoia not seen since the creation of the TSA.
We went from handcuffs only, to handcuffs, leg cuffs, waist chains, locked court rooms metal detectors, glass cages (bullet proof of course),/ coffeetableplans/, extra guards and judges who carry guns under their robes.
Bail is set so high that few can post it. And the odds of being convicted multiple enormously if you are in custody at trial.
We have become our own jailers, living in constant fear of our own making.