Erstellt am: 3. 8. 2011 - 13:49 Uhr

And another moment of history on our TV screens?

Reality Check: Mubarak in Egypt on trial, and reaction to the sentencing of FPK's Uwe Scheuch

Mubarak in court

A momentous day has arrived in Egypt, but does it mean very much when Egyptians are still being rounded up, interrogated and put before secret military courts?

There are two states of affairs currently taking place in Egypt. One is visible to anyone turning on their TVs. Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s leader for over 30 years is wheeled in his ben into a courtroom cage to face justice. The story that we don’t see is that of activists still being arrested and taken off to some undisclosed location, beaten and then put before a military court panel on charges of endangering the security of the country.

The change that the protesters of Tahrir Square fought for has not yet arrived in Egypt. Sure, the feared strongman and his heirs are on trial, but the military is still very much in control. The men who Mubarak appointed to run his military apparatus, fearing for their own futures, have decided to put their former boss on trial in the hope that this will appease the protesters. In others words saying to the protest movement: you’ve got what you wanted now go home and stop hounding us. But much more needs to be done before any sense of democracy arrives in Egypt and those who took to the streets can feel that transition has really occurred and the ghosts of the past can finally be put to rest.

Our Cairo correspondent, Abdel-Rahman Hussein, explains the surreal atmosphere around the trial and the hopes and fears of the Egyptian public.

Support for Scheuch

The FPK and FPÖ are standing behind Uwe Scheuch following his sentencing to 6 months imprisonment for corruption. Even the response of the FPK's coalition partner in the Carinthian government, the ÖVP, has been measured. So how should we read these responses, and what is the future likely to bring? Thomas Hofer of H&P Public Affairs considers the short and longer term implications with Joanna Bostock.

FM4 Reality Check

Monday to friday from 12 to 14. And after the show via Podcast or fm4.orf.at/realitycheck.