CAIRO — Egyptian prosecutors on Wednesday announced the detention of former President Hosni Mubarak for questioning on allegations of corruption, abuse of authority and the killing of protesters during the 18-day uprising that unseated him in February.
The detention, which could last as long as 15 days, comes a day after officials said Mubarak, 82, experienced a “heart crisis” and was hospitalized in Sharm el-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort town where the president’s family has lived in seclusion since his ouster.
News reports say Mubarak is likely to remain in the hospital during his detention.
Mubarak’s two sons also were taken into custody in Sharm el-Sheikh for questioning on corruption accusations. The sons — Mubarak’s onetime heir apparent, Gamal, and his brother Alaa, a businessman — are being held at Tora prison in Cairo, according to local news reports.
Tora is home to other new high-profile inmates, including Ahmed Nazif, Mubarak’s longtime prime minister, the despised former interior minister Habib el-Adly, the once-powerful steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz, and several other politicians and businessmen linked to the formerly ruling National Democratic Party.
“Tora prison starting to resemble an NDP annual conference,” the Cairo-based blogger and activist Sarah Carr posted on her Twitter account this week.
Tens of thousands of protesters — the largest crowds since the revolution — gathered last weekend in Tahrir Square to demand the arrest and prosecution of the Mubaraks and their cronies on what they’d dubbed, “Friday of Cleansing.”
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