An Egyptian court has found former president Hosni Mubarak not guilty of conspiring to kill hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising, which led to his ouster. He was further exonerated on separate corruption charges.

Addressing journalists in attendance, chief judge Mahmud Kamel al-Rashidi warned the media they should reserve judgment until they had read the massive 1,430 verdict in its entirety.

The former leader had been charged along with seven of his former police commanders for the death of 239 protesters – a fraction of the 850 people activists believe died in the unrest. Judge al-Rashidi said the charges had been politically motivated and did not deserve to be tried in his court. Mubarak’s interior minister Habib el-Adly and six aides were also found not guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.

The court further found that neither Mubarak, his aides, nor his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, were guilty of corruption charges stemming from a controversial gas deal with Israel.

The sweeping exoneration was met with cheers in the packed courtroom.

 

Despite the verdict, Mubarak will not be released from prison immediately, as he is serving a 3-year sentence for embezzling public funds. Following the reading of the verdict, Mubarak said he had done “nothing wrong.”

INTERCESSORS: A prominent rabbi had prayed for this verdict, citing the promise of Genesis 12: 3 that God should bless those who bless Israel, even if their motives are not perfect. Pray that Mubarak and his sons, through the trials and tribulations going on in Egypt and in their lives, will come to a saving knowledge of the Lord through dreams, visions, media or however the Lord of the Harvest wants to accomplish the answer to our prayers.