NEW YORK, August 13 (Itar-Tass) —— Most Egyptians want the death penalty for their former president, Hosni Mubarak. According to a survey, conducted online by the international polling organization YouGov, based in the UK, 67 percent of the republic’s residents favor the death penalty for Mubarak, and only 22 percent consider such a measure too harsh. The survey of 1,012 Egyptians was conducted on August 5-7.
The most negative attitude toward the former president is that of young people aged 18 to 24. In this age group the death penalty is the choice of 77 percent of respondents, 48 percent of respondents named Mubarak a “dictator” and 46 percent stated he was “corrupt”, 40 percent believe that the former leader of the country was “an ally of the West”, 61 percent believe that he pretended to be sick win people’s sympathy.
Almost half of the respondents said the army should continue to play an important role in the politics of the country even after the adoption of a new constitution.
Mubarak after his nearly 30-year reign resigned as president on February 11, 2011 as a result of powerful popular unrest. On August 3 he was put on trial in Cairo. The ex-president, delivered to the courtroom on a stretcher, was charged with involvement in premeditated murder and massacres of protesters during the days of popular uprising in late January – early February, as well as with contract killings in 2000 to 2010. As the prosecution claims, Mubarak personally gave the order “to the use live ammunition against peaceful demonstrators in several provinces of the country in an attempt to preserve his regime.” In addition, he and his sons are accused of corruption, abuse of office and embezzlement of state funds.