Mubarak gets jail uniform, mugshot

CAIRO

Egyptian anti-Mubarak protesters raise their hands in a show of solidarity during a rally in Tahrir Square on June 3. Activists call for mass demonstrations today. AFP photo

Egypt’s ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak was issued a regulation blue prison uniform on June 3, a day after being sentenced to life in prison and taken to a jail that once housed his opponents, official media reported.

The state news agency MENA reported that guards in the Cairo Tora prison took his official jail photograph and supplied him with his prisoner number, Agence France-Presse reported.
Prison authorities turned down his request to continue receiving treatment from doctors at a military hospital.

The 84-year-old, who reportedly has a heart condition, is being kept in the prison’s medical wing. Security officials and state television had reported on June 2 that Mubarak suffered a “health crisis” on arrival by helicopter at the prison after sentencing, and that he was revived with oxygen.

Mubarak and his interior minister Habib al-Adly were sentenced to life in prison on June 2 but six security commanders were acquitted over the killings of demonstrators during last year’s uprising that left around 850 people dead. The ruling sparked outrage across the country, as activists have called for mass demonstrations today to protest against verdicts handed down in the strongman’s murder trial.

Old regime candidate attacks Islamist rival

Meanwhile, Ahmed Shafiq, who was the last prime minister of Mubarak, has lashed out at his Islamist rival, warning he and his fundamentalist group would monopolize power and take the country back to “the dark ages,” according to the Associated Press.

Shafiq and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi will face off in a June 16-17 vote. “I represent the civil state,” Shafiq told a June 3 news conference. “The Brotherhood represents darkness and secrecy. No one knows who they are or what they are doing. I represent dialogue and tolerance.”
“They want to monopolize power,” he said. “They don’t want to take us 30 years back, but all the way back to the dark ages.”