Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak has been moved to a hospital in the upscale Cairo neighborhood of Maadi after he had suffered heart failure and was defibrillated in prison, Al Arabiya correspondent reported from Cairo.
Mubarak, 84, has suffered serious health problems since he was deposed in February last year. He had been in the medical wing of the Torah civilian prison since being sentenced on June 2 to life imprisonment for his role in the deaths of protesters.
Mubarak’s health was the subject of widespread speculation for much of the latter part of his 30-year rule. During his trial, he was wheeled into court on a hospital stretcher for each hearing, though it was unclear what he was suffering from.
His medical condition deteriorated after the verdict and he suffered an emotional breakdown after being moved to an intensive care wing in Cairo’s Tora prison.
Doctors treated him with a defibrillator twice on June 11, according to a prison hospital source.
He has suffered from acute depression since his transfer, as well as periodic increases in blood pressure and shortness of breath, interior ministry officials said.
Mubarak’s wife Suzanne and his two daughters-in-law were given special permission to visit him following rumors that he had died in prison.
His family has formally requested a transfer to a Cairo hospital but such a move could unleash the anger of activists and protesters.