"I am telling you before anything, that the blood of the martyrs and the injured will not go in vain. And I would like to affirm, I will not hesitate to punish those who are responsible fiercely. I will hold those in charge who have violated the rights of our youth with the harshest punishment stipulated in the law"
About this Quote
Context sharpens the stakes. Spoken as his regime faced mass protests and mounting evidence of violence against demonstrators, the promise is less confession than containment. By naming "those who are responsible" without naming the system that empowered them, he offers a sacrificial logic: a few bad actors will be punished so the architecture of power can survive. The phrase "before anything" performs urgency and paternal seriousness, signaling that he is still the commander-in-chief, still setting the agenda, still entitled to the final word on who counts as a martyr and what justice looks like.
The subtext is also generational. "Our youth" wraps protesters in national belonging, an attempt to reframe dissent as a family dispute under the father's supervision. Yet the threat of "fierce" punishment hints at panic: he needs to sound compassionate enough to pacify the crowds while sounding ruthless enough to reassure security forces and loyalists. It's rhetoric from a leader trying to keep the dam intact by promising to punish the water.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Mubarak, Hosni. (n.d.). I am telling you before anything, that the blood of the martyrs and the injured will not go in vain. And I would like to affirm, I will not hesitate to punish those who are responsible fiercely. I will hold those in charge who have violated the rights of our youth with the harshest punishment stipulated in the law. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-am-telling-you-before-anything-that-the-blood-144398/
Chicago Style
Mubarak, Hosni. "I am telling you before anything, that the blood of the martyrs and the injured will not go in vain. And I would like to affirm, I will not hesitate to punish those who are responsible fiercely. I will hold those in charge who have violated the rights of our youth with the harshest punishment stipulated in the law." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-am-telling-you-before-anything-that-the-blood-144398/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I am telling you before anything, that the blood of the martyrs and the injured will not go in vain. And I would like to affirm, I will not hesitate to punish those who are responsible fiercely. I will hold those in charge who have violated the rights of our youth with the harshest punishment stipulated in the law." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-am-telling-you-before-anything-that-the-blood-144398/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.














