Networks Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak becomes a 'youtuber' at 91
Hosni Mubarak Politics
One year after the patriarch's death and ten years after his tumultuous departure from the palace,
Hosni Mubarak's
family
is preparing to fight another battle: to
demand compensation from the European Union
for having kept clan members on its
sanctions list
for a decade
.
Last December, the Court of Justice of the EU annulled the
sanctions imposed against the dictator
, his wife Suzanne (79), their children Alaa (60) and Gamal (57) and their respective wives after the massive protests that in 2011 precipitated the decline of the caudillo and began their judicial ordeal in the Egyptian courts for a string of cases of corruption and embezzlement of public funds.
The body ended up ruling in favor of the Mubarak family, stating that the sanctions imposed in March of that year were "illegal from the beginning."
In conversation with LOC, the British law firm that represents the heirs of the autocrat who reigned in Egypt for nearly three decades assures that his relatives are still considering whether to proceed with the
settlement of accounts with Brussels
.
"Our clients have reserved the right to present claims against the Council of the European Union for the damages caused, including but not limited to the significant damage to their reputation caused by these illegal sanctions," argue their lawyers to this supplement.
"We believe that the Mubarak family has a solid basis to claim damages
,
" they
slip without revealing the amount they could demand from the European coffers.
The
sanctions established in 2011
, in the heat of the
Arab Spring
, marked yet another act in the rapid public ostracism to which the family was subjected after the loss of the throne.
Switzerland then blocked 590 million francs (about 539 million euros) deposited by the family in banks in the Swiss country.
The Prosecutor's Office keeps some 368 million euros frozen belonging to five people from the former president's circle, including his two offspring, for criminal association and money laundering.
The EU followed in their footsteps although Mubarak's environment ensures that
they do not have assets on European soil
.
"These sanctions were imposed on the former president and his wife despite the fact that they had no assets in the European Union, not even outside Egypt," their lawyers indicate.
Last month Mubarak's children also received the good news that the
United Kingdom did not include them on its list of people subject to sanction.
"It is particularly relevant to my situation, as I lived and worked in London for almost a decade. My family and I have been the target of a continuous campaign of blatant false accusations and intrusive investigations," denounces
Gamal Mubarak,
a former investment banker who had been chosen to succeed his father, a movement that the revolution ended up truncating.
A jail with a spa and billiards
Both Gamal and his brother
Alaa,
married to the daughters of two notable local magnates, served four years in prison for having allocated public money - some 14 million euros - to the reform of one of the family's palaces.
His time in prison has been circulated in recent weeks by Egyptian liars.
In a radio interview, musician Hani Mehanna recalled the months during which he shared prison life with the offspring of Mubarak and several businessmen close to his circle.
"We were 16 people in two buildings that could accommodate about 3,000," he
said before going into the details of his placid existence in the noble area of the Tora prison complex, south of Cairo.
"Hisham Talaat Mustafa [a well-known businessman] built a great mosque and Ahmed Ezz [tycoon and politician] built a gym and a spa.
There were even table tennis and billiards tables," he
recalled.
Its exclusive conditions contrast with those of the attached prisons, where thousands of political dissidents suffer overcrowding and torture.
"We played football together. Alaa and I had one team while Gamal had another with some jailed officials. Habib al Adli [former interior minister] sometimes served as referee."
The dictator's scions lead a life away from the spotlight, with the protection of the
Abdelfatah al Sisi
regime
.
The grandson Omar (21) is the most mediatic of the clan.
He has close to 700,000 followers on Instagram, where he posts scenes from his elevated lifestyle.
Despite his public statements, the size of his fortune is an enigma.
The family owns
several dozen properties and land spread throughout the country
and located in urbanizations on the Mediterranean coast, South Sinai or the outskirts of Cairo.
An important part of his estate remains hidden abroad.
One of Alaa's companies appeared on the
Panama Papers
, domiciled in the British Virgin Islands.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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