Egypt's Mubarak sent back to prison from hospital

Egypt’s Mubarak sent back to prison from hospital

Mubarak, sentenced to life in prison over the killing of protesters in the uprising that ended his rule, was shifted from the medical wing of Tora prison to a military hospital last month following reports of a deterioration in his health.

July 17, 2012 11:08 by Reuters

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was sent back to prison on Monday on the orders of the public prosecutor who ruled an improvement in his health meant he no longer needed the care of the military hospital he was moved to last month.

At the time, senior officers and military sources gave various accounts of the 84-year-old’s condition, including that he was in a coma and on life support.

The state news agency had reported he was “clinically dead”, a report that came under wide criticism. MENA was accused by critics of participating in a cover-up to move the former president of three decades out of prison.

He was moved to hospital just days after Egyptians voted in the second round of a presidential election that eventually installed the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi.

Adel al-Saeed, the assistant prosecutor and spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, said on Monday a medical committee formed to review Mubarak’s condition had decided his health was stable enough that he did not need advanced hospital care.

“The medical committee’s members have unanimously reached a decision that his medical condition is currently stable under the use of medication,” the statement from the prosecution said.

Sentenced on June 2 for his failure to protect demonstrators, Mubarak has been portrayed as being in poor health by officials for the past year. He was wheeled into court during his trial on a hospital stretcher.

Mubarak’s legal team had been pressing to have him moved from the prison hospital to a better-equipped facility, saying he was not receiving adequate treatment for his condition.

There has been no clear statement from independent medical experts on any ailments, although state media have reported a variety of illnesses ranging from shortage of breath to heart attacks and comas.

Many Egyptians have been sceptical, suspecting his fellow military officers who had been running the country since he was toppled before Mursi was elected as president of manoeuvring to give him a more comfortable confinement.

Mubarak’s two sons are being held in the same prison, facing trial on graft charges, which they deny.

(Writing by Dina Zayed/Tom Perry; Editing by Mark Heinrich)