Just last year former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was considered a staunch US ally.
Now the “moderate” Muslim Brotherhood wants him executed. These same moderates are calling for hand amputations for his sons.
The Australian reported:
THE spokesman for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which portrays itself as a moderate Islamic movement, has called for execution and hand amputations if the Mubaraks are found guilty of murder and corruption.
“If a man has stolen millions of the state’s money, the penalty is that I must cut off his hand,” said Mahmoud Ghuzlan, a professor of biochemistry at Zagazig University. “There is no argument. These are God’s words.”
The group, banned for half a century, was legalised only after the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak.
Professor Ghuzlan said the penalty of amputation, mandated under sharia law, should apply to his sons Gamal — the younger, who was being groomed as heir — and Alaa, a businessman.
In a scene that transfixed the nation last week, the two brothers, both charged with profiteering, stood in court as their father lay on a trolley next to them.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related Coverage* Caged Mubarak pleads not guilty Courier Mail, 4 days ago
* Muslim Brotherhood to run for presidency The Australian, 11 May 2011
* Yemeni peace process collapses The Australian, 1 May 2011
* Egypt’s Islamists eye elections Adelaide Now, 30 Apr 2011
* New Egyptian president by November The Australian, 30 Mar 2011End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
The senior Mubarak, charged with responsibility for the deaths of about 850 protesters killed by his security forces, periodically craned his neck forward to peer from the defendants’ cage out at the court.
Professor Ghuzlan had no sympathy. Mr Mubarak should be hanged if convicted, although “beheading by the sword” would be more traditional, he said.
He sought to paint sharia as a merciful alternative to Egypt’s current legal system, saying a thief who stole only to feed his family would not suffer amputation.
Despite his words, Muslim Brotherhood rule would evidently be harsh. Adulterers would be whipped, alcohol banned, men and women separated in university classes and pre-marital sex and same-sex relationships would be forbidden.
