Mubarak arrested in Egypt ahead of corruption probe

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Listen to this article

noicon

Audio file created from text revision dated 2011-04-15 and may not reflect subsequent edits to this report.

Audio Help / Audio Wikinews

	The prosecutor general orders the detention of former president Hosni Mubarak and his sons Gamal and Alaa.
—Egyptian prosecutor general

Hosni Mubarak, the ousted president of Egypt, who was last night taken to hospital after a heart attack, has been detained by prosecutors in the country ahead of a corruption probe. Egyptian officials allege Mubarak was involved in corruption and killings while he was in office.

The prosecutor general confirmed Mubarak and his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, had been detained for 15 days in the early hours of this morning. The former president, ousted from power in February following widespread protests across the country, remains in hospital after suffering a heart attack while being questioned by Egyptian officials yesterday.

Mubarak was summoned to face questions before Egyptian officials on Sunday over allegations of money laundering while he was in power and claims he ordered security forces to fire on anyone protesting against him. Sources say he suffered a heart attack while being interrogated by Egyptian prosecutors, and was taken to hospital in the coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he has been living since resigning. He arrived at the hospital in an armored car and flanked by heavy protection, according to two sources in the city, which lies on the coast of the Red Sea.

Outside the hospital, thousands of people gathered to demand Mubarak stand trial for ordering security forces to fire on protesters during the popular uprising earlier this year, when 800 people were killed. As Gamal and Alaa were driven away in a police van the crowd pelted the vehicle with stones, water bottles and shoes. Thousands more have gathered in Tahrir Square in the capital, Cairo, in the past few days demanding Mubarak be tried for his alleged crimes.

Mubarak has robustly denied the allegations of corruption and killings during his administration. Shortly before he was ordered for questioning on Sunday, the television station Al-Arabiya broadcast an audio message from the former leader, in which he said he would defend himself against what he termed an "unjust" campaign of "distortions, lies and incitement" against him. He claimed his enemies were systematically aiming to "tarnish my reputation and discredit my integrity," and said he would legally fight those who "engaged in lies and distortions against me."

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!

Sources

"Egypt: Mubarak and sons detained amid corruption probe" — BBC News Online, April 13, 2011
Adam Gabbatt, Jack Shenker. "Hosni Mubarak detained over corruption allegations" — The Guardian, April 13, 2011
"Egypt prosecutor to question Mubarak" — Al Jazeera, April 10, 2011
"Egypt: Hosni Mubarak to be quizzed over deaths" — BBC News Online, April 10, 2011

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.