God,
The judge ended his 200 page judgment with an appeal to you as Ultimate Judge. Perhaps his conscience was pained after avoiding a ruling.
Mubarak was neither convicted nor acquitted, his case dismissed on a technicality. And a similar reasoning let his security generals off the hook. Since no officers were found guilty in the three years since the revolution, there could have been no top-down order for them to kill.
On some points, God, it seems fair enough. Many deaths occurred in attacks on police stations, which the judge ruled as self-defense.
But it leaves a void of culpability and an emptiness of satisfaction. They may well be innocent, but who is guilty?
Many in are Egypt are convinced he is. After a long revolutionary pause, a few thousand descended to Tahrir Square to protest before being dispersed by security.
Many in Egypt are convinced he isn’t. They place blame on Islamists, accused of opening prisons and killing protestors to enflame sentiment against the police.
And many in Egypt no longer much care. They see Mubarak as old and deserving of sympathy, but the state as imperiled and in need of stability.
God, judge Mubarak rightly in the end, and in the now. Honor the judge, but judge his conscience. Judge the consciences of all who contributed, assembled, and weighed the evidence.
Comfort those who still mourn the blood of their loved ones. May their cries to you be heard in the end, and in the now. Give them perseverance until all facts are known and all crimes convicted. May neither they nor their cause be forgotten.
But neither, God, let it be manipulated. May those who protest seek justice, not retribution. May those who support seek truth, not stability.
But God, in your wisdom, give all the above.
Clean the conscience of Egypt, God. Too many avoid repentance, too many escape guilt.
In their pain, may they appeal to you. Judge.
Amen.
Jayson Casper 