Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s condition stabilized on Tuesday, but his lawyer said the 84-year old former president does not trust his doctors in the prison hospital and fears they are out to kill him.
There have been conflicting reports about Mubarak’s condition since a court sentenced him to life in prison on June 2 of failing to prevent the killings of protesters in the uprising that ousted him last year.
Since his arrival at the Tora prison in Cairo, Mubarak’s condition deteriorated. He has been suffering from high blood pressure and breathing difficulties and is diagnosed with deep depression. On Monday, doctors used a defibrillator on him twice after they could not find a pulse.
According to The Associated Press, Mubarak’s lawyer Farid el-Deeb said on Monday he had asked concerned authorities to transfer Mubarak to a better equipped military hospital because of his fragile health.
In an appearance on a late night TV program, El-Deeb painted a picture of a paranoid man who does not trust the medical team in the prison and who has at times resisted their instructions.
“Mubarak doesn’t trust anyone anymore. He was surprised to find new doctors treating him, not the ones who treated him before, and is afraid to take anything from anyone. He doesn’t recognize the faces around him. This is a big problem for him,” el-Deeb was quoted by AP as having said.
At one point, Mubarak told his lawyer that he fears his doctors are out to kill him.
“’Help me Farid,’ he said in a very faint voice,” el-Deeb quoted Mubarak as saying. “He said: ‘I’m uncomfortable and I don’t feel safe. I feel they are ordered to kill me.’”
Meanwhile, medical officials said Mubarak’s condition had improved by Tuesday and he was administered oxygen to aid his breathing once for five minutes. They said they are monitoring his heart and blood pressure closely and he is in intensive care.
On Monday it was reported that Mubarak is in state of coma but Egyptian television denied those reports.
Unconfirmed reports on numerous Egyptian websites claiming that Mubarak was dead were firmly denied on Sunday by the country’s Interior Ministry.