
In many other countries of the world, his money, influence and political connections would have purchased him extra legs to walk away from justice, a free man; assuming he is even prosecuted! In Nigeria for example, so many people have been murdered and in some cases by known high and powerful people; yet nobody has ever been held accountable for these crimes? A member of the National Democratic Party which has held a vice-like grip on power in Egypt since the 1970s, Convict Hisham Talaat Mustafa, 50, was a member of parliament of the Egyptian upper house, the Shura? Mustafa, pictured here right, is reputed to be one one of Egypt's richest men, and as member of the Egyptian elite high and powerful, had ties to the son of Egyptian president, Gamal Mubarak? It was however, before the verdict, being speculated that but for the insistence of the authorities in Dubai-United Arab Emirates, that he be prosecuted for the murder that the murder charge would have been squashed because of the convict's connections. Whether the president will pull some strings or use his executive powers to commute or suspend the sentence will be determined in due course; but President Hosni Mubarak should know that the whole world is watching and waiting for justice to take its course in this case; and he must not constitute himself a clog in its wheels. Kudos to the Egyptian judge, who courageously rendered this verdict without fear or intimidation of the high and powerful?


The knife-welding assailant, El-Sukkari, worked as head of security at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt which Moustafa built; and had travelled to Dubai last July to carry out the dastardly murder. His DNA was found on clothes inside the victim's apartment and he was captured entering the Dubai apartment complex on the day of the murder by an on-site security camera? The murder-weapon, a knife allegedly used in the killing was also recovered. There was
also a footprint found on the crime-scene which matched a shoe recently bought using al-Sukkari's credit card? Eavesdropped telephone conversations between El-Sukkari and Mustafa, wherein Mustafa was telling El-Sukkari, pictured bottom right, to throw his former lover off her balcony was tendered in evidence and supplied whatever missing link left of their culpability? The case which commenced on october 18, 2008, arrived at a decision seven months later!

His lawyer, Samir al-Shishtawi, called the ruling "severe" and said he expected it would be overturned on appeal? Icheoku says, what a consolatory statement made by an over-priced lawyer, trying to pallicate his unsatisfied, convicted client! It is only corruption on a grand scale that could change the verdict of death, based on overwhelming evidence of the prosecution.
