Trial of former Egyptian President Mubarak to resume on August 15

[News_Editor]

Trial of former Egyptian President Mubarak to resume on August 15

2011-08-04 19:49:08 GMT+7 (ICT)

CAIRO (BNO NEWS) -- The trial of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons will resume on August 15, Judge Ahmed Refaat said on Wednesday during the first day of the trial.

Judge Ahmed Refaat said after the first session that the trial was adjourned until August 15 while the trial of former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six security chiefs will continue on August 4, the Egyptian Gazette reported. Refaat, presiding over the Cairo Criminal Court, last week vowed a speedy trial and said that the sessions would be held on consecutive days.

The judge also decided to move Mubarak to the hospital in the compound of the Police Academy where the trial is being held "to guarantee his attendance." Mubarak was flown on Wednesday morning from the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh where he had been held in custody in hospital since April after reportedly suffering a heart attack.

Mubarak on Wednesday's session pleaded not guilty to charges of ordering the killing of anti-government protesters earlier this year and abusing his powers. "I deny all these charges," the 83-year-old former president told the court as he lay on a bed inside a steel cage in the Police Academy building.


Lawyers for the slain protesters earlier demanded that Mubarak be kept under detention in the Torah Prison south of Cairo instead of being allowed to stay at the hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh. They also asked that all other cases related to killing protesters across Egypt, involving other policemen, be merged into the same trial, according to the Egyptian Gazette.

Mubarak's lawyers however claimed that his trial is invalid because a court last month merged his case into that of former interior minister Habib al-Adly. They also requested the court to summon the chief of the ruling military council Mohammad Hussain Tantawi and former vice president Omar Sulaiman to be cross-examined.

Meanwhile, clashes were reported before the trial began for its first session on Wednesday, injuring several people when Mubarak's supporters clashed with opponents outside the court building.

Mubarak, former Interior Minister Habib Ibrahim al-Adly and six other former senior officials face charges over the deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters during the 18-day uprising, which toppled Egypt's 30-year ruler. If convicted, they face possible death sentences.

According to Amnesty International, at least 840 people were killed and over 6,000 people were injured in the violent repression.

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