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| Africa North |
| Mubarak returns to court in landmark trial |
| 2011-12-29 |
| Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, charged with the killing of protesters and abuse of power, was wheeled into court on a hospital trolley on Wednesday as his trial resumed after a delay of almost two months while lawyers demanded a new judge. Mubarak, his two sons, the former interior minister and senior police officers face charges ranging from corruption to involvement in the deaths of hundreds of protesters in the uprising that unseated him. The former leader, who is being held under guard at a military hospital near Cairo as doctors say he has a heart condition, was brought into the court on a hospital trolley, covering his eyes with his arm and surrounded by police. Previous sessions were marred by clashes outside the Cairo court building between Mubarak supporters and Egyptians demanding the death penalty for him, but there were no scuffles as Mubarak arrived on Wednesday. The sight in August of Mubarak, the man who ruled the Arab worldÂ’s most populous nation for three decades, appearing behind bars in a Cairo courtroom on charges that could bring the death penalty was one of the defining moments of the Arab Spring. Later that month the presiding judge Ahmed Refaat ordered television cameras out of the courtroom until the case concludes, ensuring key testimony by top officials took place beyond public view. Lawyers representing families of those killed filed a suit in September calling for Refaat and the two other judges to be replaced. They had complained that the judges had failed to give them enough time to question Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the army council now ruling Egypt, during his court appearance. Their request was rejected. Former Interior Minister Habib Al-Adli and six senior police officers are also standing trial. Businessman Hussein Salem, a close associate of Mubarak, is being tried in absentia. The judge was due on Wednesday to take requests from lawyers and set dates for questioning of more witnesses. A lawyer asked that the deputy head of the military council, General Sami Anan, give testimony, a witness in the court said. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 And after you win, and a new Judge is installed, what them, Can't complain about the Judge anymore. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2011-12-29 01:02 |