Earlier today, Hosni Mubarak made his first public appearance since stepping down in February. It was as a defendant in a courtroom.
This is a monumental moment in the history of the Middle East. Mubarak was not the first North African leader to step down amid protests. But his ouster was the most symbolically important, and it emboldened a revolutionary movement across the region.
Now, he has been reduced to laying in a hospital gurney behind a cage. Al Jazeera has captures the court proceedings today:
There were two possible alternatives to legal action against Mubarak: summary execution or letting him live out his remaining years under house arrest. Surely today’s court room action is the more satisfying than either of these two: A once feared ruler looks pathetic.