Human rights standards may not be met in this trial, but the more essential purpose is to prove there's no going back.
Phyllis Bennis
Al-Jazeera
".....Right now, six months after the heady days of Tahrir Square and six months after the extraordinary ouster of Mubarak from power, Egypt's future remains uncertain. The military - Mubarak's old military, largely unchanged - remains far too powerful. The military-appointed interim government remains torn between retaining popular credibility by responding to the still-unmet demands of the still-mobilised population, and remaining in office by acceding to the dictates of their military overseers. There are no guarantees. Except for the fact that Egypt's people, the people of Tahrir Square, have lost their fear of the government and the military. They are still mobilised, they are still working to hold at least parts of the overthrown dictatorship to account.
Many people remain understandably uneasy about what Egypt's future holds. The struggle to shift power - real power, not only symbolic power - away from the military and to the people of Tahrir Square, continues. It is precisely in that context that the importance of the trial of Hosni Mubarak sharpens: it is proof that, whatever comes next, whatever structures of privilege and oppression Egyptians continue to face, it will not be the same as before. The trial of Mubarak shows there's no going back."
Phyllis Bennis
Al-Jazeera
".....Right now, six months after the heady days of Tahrir Square and six months after the extraordinary ouster of Mubarak from power, Egypt's future remains uncertain. The military - Mubarak's old military, largely unchanged - remains far too powerful. The military-appointed interim government remains torn between retaining popular credibility by responding to the still-unmet demands of the still-mobilised population, and remaining in office by acceding to the dictates of their military overseers. There are no guarantees. Except for the fact that Egypt's people, the people of Tahrir Square, have lost their fear of the government and the military. They are still mobilised, they are still working to hold at least parts of the overthrown dictatorship to account.
Many people remain understandably uneasy about what Egypt's future holds. The struggle to shift power - real power, not only symbolic power - away from the military and to the people of Tahrir Square, continues. It is precisely in that context that the importance of the trial of Hosni Mubarak sharpens: it is proof that, whatever comes next, whatever structures of privilege and oppression Egyptians continue to face, it will not be the same as before. The trial of Mubarak shows there's no going back."
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