Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (Arabic: محمد حسني السيد مبارك , Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mæˈħæmmæd ˈħosni (ʔe)sˈsæjjed moˈbɑːɾɑk], Muḥammad Ḥusnī Sayyid Mubārak ; born 4 May 1928) is an Egyptian military and political leader who served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in the Egyptian Air Force. He served as its commander from 1972 to 1975 and rose to the rank of air chief marshal. He was appointed Vice President of Egypt by President Anwar Sadat in 1975 and assumed the presidency on 14 October 1981, eight days after Sadat's assassination. Mubarak's presidency lasted almost thirty years, making him Egypt's longest-serving ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha, who ruled the country from 1805 to 1848. Mubarak stepped down after 18 days of demonstrations during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. On 11 February 2011, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned as president and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. On 13 April, a prosecutor ordered Mubarak and both of his sons (Alaa and Gamal) to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power. Mubarak was then ordered to stand trial on charges of negligence for failing to halt the killing of peaceful protesters during the revolution. These trials began on 3 August 2011. Egypt's military prosecutors said they were investigating Mubarak's role in Sadat's assassination, caused mainly by an initiative from the late Anwar Sadat's daughter, Ruqaya Al-Sadat. On 2 June 2012, an Egyptian court sentenced Mubarak to life imprisonment. After sentencing, he was reported to have suffered a series of health crises. On 13 January 2013, Egypt's Court of Cassation overturned Mubarak's sentence and ordered a retrial. On 29 November 2014, Egypt's Northern Cairo Criminal Court acquitted Mubarak, his sons and his Minister of Interior of all murder and corruption charges. On 20 August 2013, an Egyptian court ordered Mubarak’s release because there were no legal grounds for his detention. A day later, interim prime minister Hazem el-Beblawi ordered that Mubarak be put under house arrest. On 21 May 2014, while awaiting his retrial, Mubarak and his sons were convicted on charges of embezzlement; Mubarak was sentenced to three years in prison, while his sons received four-year sentences. The three were fined the equivalent of US$2.9 million dollars, and were ordered to repay US$17.6 million dollars. On 13 January 2015, Egypt's Court of Cassation overturned Mubarak's and his sons' embezzlement charges, the last remaining conviction against him, and ordered a retrial.