Retrial of Egypt's Mubarak increases chances for his release (2)

Lawyer Mohamed Zarie, who is also a human rights activist and head of Arab Penal Reform Organization, told Xinhua that he believed Mubarak would not be released at all until retrial is done, regardless of legal considerations, describing his case as " special."

For his part, Hussein Abdel-Raziq, secretary-general of Tagmmu Party, said Mubarak's retrial meant new evidence to be introduced, calling on Egyptians to maintain calm until the final decision of the new court.

"The court decision represents a new page for all defendants in light of new evidence," Abdel-Raziq added.

The court decision comes a few days before the second anniversary of the Jan. 25 "uprising" that toppled Mubarak's rule. The day is expected to witness massive nationwide demonstrations against current President Mohamed Morsi amid political spilt between his supporters, mainly Islamists and conservatives, and his opponents of liberals, leftists and Copts.

Experts believe that the approval of Mubarak's appeal would provoke crowds to join the intended Jan. 25 demonstrations, especially that a lot of Egyptians are already unhappy with the performance of Morsi and his government.

However, Dr. Noha Bakir, political science professor at American University in Cairo (AUC), downplayed the intended protests, saying that people now focus more on the upcoming parliamentary elections and the recent clashes outside the presidential palace.

"Mubarak doesn't come on the top list of the protesters' priorities, bearing in mind his age and his deteriorating health," Bakir told Xinhua.

Ayman Abdel-Wahhab, researcher at Al-Aharm Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said Egypt had become a country of law and institutions and that everyone should accept the decision of justice. "Otherwise there would be no need for our uprising," he said.

If Mubarak will be ruled not guilty in the case of killing the protesters, it will raise many questions over those who were responsible, and the new administration should present the other involved parties in the crimes during the turmoil two years ago, said Abdel-Wahhab who predicted that Mubarak would be released.

"New Egypt requires more transparency and accountability to avoid suspicions in the future about the current ruling regime," he added.

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