Ousted President Mubarak to ask Egypt for forgiveness and amnesty

Ousted President Mubarak to ask Egypt for forgiveness and amnesty

2011-05-17 22:14:22 GMT+7 (ICT)

CAIRO, EGYPT (BNO NEWS) -- Ousted President Hosni Mubarak is expected to apologize to the Egyptian nation in alive broadcast shortly in order to plead for amnesty, the Ahram newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The 82-year-old former ruler will record a message that will be later broadcasted on several Egyptian and Arab channels. He is expected to apologize for his and his family wrongdoing against the population.

Furthermore, Mubarak will express his willingness to return most of his wealth to its righteous owners, the Egyptian population. The purpose of the speech is to seek amnesty for his upcoming trial.

The ousted president is currently detained in the Sharm El Sheikh International Hospital as he is accused of ordering the killing of protesters in Tahrir Square during the January 25 Revolution as well as many abuse of power and illicit profiteering counts.

Mubarak was hospitalized after suffering a minor heart attack. His detention was extended or another 15 days, the same case of his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, for further questioning.

His wife, Suzanne Mubarak, was released on Tuesday after being detained for 15 days as part of the investigation. Suzanne gave up assets but denied charges of abuse of power. She was also hospitalized on Friday after suffering symptoms of a heart attack.

The Illicit Gains Authority determined after an investigation that the fortune of the ousted president was worth around $145 million, including his frozen Swiss bank accounts and a villa in Sharm El-Sheikh worth LE 36 million ($6 million).

Swiss authorities previously froze all assets of Mubarak, his family, and close allies, totaling an estimated 410 million Swiss Francs ($462 million). Egypt is seeking the return of the 100 percent of the frozen assets as it is claimed that the money came from misuse of public funds and related corruption schemes.

Mubarak ruled Egypt in a 30-year-long regime which began in 1981. He stepped down this year after weeks of anti-government protests by crowds calling for greater democracy and respect of human rights.

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