An Egyptian court has sentenced ex-President Hosni Mubarak to
life in prison for complicity in the killing of protesters during last year's
uprising.
The 84-year-old is the first former leader to be tried in person
since the start of the Arab Spring in early 2011.
Former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly also received a life
sentence over the deaths of demonstrators.
Mubarak and his two sons - Gamal and Alaa - were acquitted on
separate charges of corruption.
Shouting and scuffles erupted in court after the verdict was
read out.
Correspondents say some people were angry with the court's
decision to acquit four senior aides to Adly, who were also widely blamed for
the death of protesters.
Angry shouts
It's been a real swing of emotions outside the courthouse.
There was that moment of wild elation among protesters - many of
them friends or relatives of victims - when the life sentence was pronounced on
Hosni Mubarak and his former interior minister.
But then word came through of the other verdicts - the acquittal
of Gamal and Alaa Mubarak, and particularly of security chiefs cleared on what
many regard as a strange ruling that they were only obeying orders.
After that there
were running clashes between riot police and protesters who feel their friends
and relatives died for nothing. The mood in Egypt right now is very tense.
Outside the building, Mubarak's sentencing was greeted by
celebrations from relatives of those killed, according to the BBC's Yolande
Knell.
Firecrackers were set off. Soha Saeed, the wife of one of the
victims, shouted: "I'm so happy. I'm so happy."
But the joy soon turned into angry shouts as the crowd learned
that the former interior minister's aides had been cleared.
Protesters clashed with riot police. The verdict also sparked
angry demonstrations in Suez.
In his preamble, Judge Ahmed Refaat insisted the 10-month trial
had been a fair one.
He spoke of the Mubarak era as "30 years of darkness"
and praised what he called "the sons of the nation who rose up peacefully
for freedom and justice".
Announcing the verdicts, the judge then said Mubarak and Adly
had failed to stop security forces using deadly force against unarmed
demonstrators.
Mubarak, who ruled the country from 1981 to 2011, had faced a
possible death sentence over the killing of about 850 protesters.
Prosecutors blamed
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood - the main opposition force under
Mubarak's rule - said the defendants must be retried.
"The public prosecutor did not carry out its full duty in
gathering adequate evidence to convict the accused for killing
protesters," said Yasser Ali, a spokesman for brotherhood.
The verdicts and
sentences
·
Hosni Mubarak: Guilty of conspiring in killing
of protesters - life imprisonment; not guilty of corruption
·
Alaa and Gamal Mubarak: Not guilty of corruption
·
Former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly: Guilty of
conspiring in killing of protesters - life imprisonment
·
Four aides of al-Adly: Not guilty of charges of
complicity, instigation and providing assistance in the murder and attempted
murder of protesters
·
Hussein Salem, business tycoon: Not guilty of
corruption
The prosecution experienced difficulties during the trial. Its
first five witnesses recanted initial statements that police commanders had
been ordered to use live ammunition against demonstrators.
Egypt's state TV said Mubarak was set to be moved to the hospital
of Tora prison, near Cairo, where a number of figures from the former
government are serving jail sentences for corruption.
Since his trial began last August, Mubarak has been held in the
International Medical Centre outside the capital, as his lawyer said he was in
poor health.
Despite their acquittal, Alaa and Gamal Mubarak are to remain in
detention. On Wednesday, prosecutors said they would go on trial with seven
others on charges of stock market manipulation.
The verdict comes as political tensions are rising in Egypt
between two rounds of voting in a presidential election.
Our correspondent says many of Egypt's revolutionaries are
bitterly disappointed by the choice they now face - between a Muslim
Brotherhood candidate, Mohammed Mursi, and Mubarak's last Prime Minister, Ahmed
Shafiq.
The first leader toppled during the Arab Spring was Zine
al-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, who was found guilty in absentia of drugs and
gun charges in July.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed by rebels in October. Yemen's
Ali Abdullah Saleh received immunity from prosecution after handing over power
in November