Will Mubarak Case End In a Mistrial? Only Grouch Marx Knows For Sure

Apparently there is very little to distinguish Mubarak's lawyers from Groucho Marx--they seem to be equally qualified. That would explain the uproar over antics of victims' lawyers at Mubarak trial:

Legal experts and citizens alike were concerned as well as bemused by the chaotic and unorganized antics of lawyers representing families of martyrs during former President Hosni Mubarak’s trial on charges that he ordered the shooting of protesters last winter.

The 30 or so lawyers representing families made a spectacle Wednesday, racing each other to address the court’s judge while showing a lack of eloquence and jurisprudence during the nationally televised hearing. They at times resembled a scrum on a rugby field. So much so that many Egyptians believed that Mubarak's veteran defense lawyer, Farid el Deeb, stood out as more polished and erudite. 

One lawyer yelled that Mubarak was a serial killer. Another grabbed a microphone and claimed that Mubarak, who had been wheeled into the courtroom in a hospital bed, was not Mubarak at all. The lawyer said Mubarak died in 2004 and that the man on trial was an imposter in an elaborate scheme by outside forces. 

“The main problem is that the hearing was attended by many victims’ lawyers, who don’t have the necessary experience to deal with such case. If this issue isn’t rectified before the second hearing then this will hinder any chances of indicting Mubarak,” said Tarek Awady, a lawyer in the Egyptian Appeals Court, told Babylon & Beyond.

I can't imagine this is being done on purpose in order to get Mubarak an acquittal, but if is a sign of the competence of the legal system in Egypt, it does not bode well for Egypt.

Not that there is anything in Egypt that bodes well for the country at this point.

Technorati Tag: Egypt and Mubarak.