Egypt's ex-President Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison Saturday for his role in the killing of protesters during last year's revolution that forced him from power, a verdict that caps a stunning fall from grace for a man who ruled the country as his personal fiefdom for nearly three decades.
The 84-year-old Mubarak, the first Arab leader to be tried in his own country, was ferried by helicopter away from the police academy where the trial was held to the Torah prison in Cairo where his sons and members of his regime have been either serving prison sentences or held pending trials over a variety of corruption charges.
Mubarak ruled with unchecked power for 29 years — an era stained by allegations of widespread corruption, police abuses and a strong grip on power by the ruling party.
The harsh sentence against Mubarak, which can be appealed, appeared aimed at defusing tensions ahead of a divisive runoff presidential race that pits Mubarak's last prime minister against the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate.
As the news of the sentence initially came through to hundreds of protesters and relatives of victims outside the court compound, jubilation erupted with dozens of anti-Mubarak protesters jumping and down and waving Egyptian flags and their fists in the air.
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