Egypt's Mubarak returns to court

OUSTED EGYPTIAN president Hosni Mubarak reappeared in court yesterday charged with complicity in the killing of protesters during the uprising and corruption.

He was again wheeled into the dock, a metal cage, on a hospital trolley, his hand poised on his chest to display the pink plastic IV connection to the drip bag hanging over his head.

He wore a blue sports suit rather than the white overall normally prescribed for prisoners on trial. His sons, Alaa and Gamal, both in white, stood in front of him to shield him from television cameras.

Mubarak (83) was flown by helicopter to the compound of the police academy from the military hospital where he has been residing since the opening of the trial on August 3rd.

Outside the wall of the compound, several hundred pro- and anti-Mubarak demonstrators traded insults and stones, injuring 23, until police separated the two groups. They then calmly watched the proceedings on a large television screen.

Mubarak and his sons replied “present” when their names were called.

He, along with former interior minister Habib al-Adly, are charged with ordering the use of force, including live fire, against protesters between January 25th and 31st, the most violent days of the 18-day uprising.

Uniformed police were withdrawn on the night of January 28th. Thereafter, the regime deployed plain clothes internal security agents armed with shotguns, knives, clubs and other lethal weapons.

If convicted, Mubarak, Mr Adly and six aides could face the death penalty.

The former president and his two sons also stand accused of graft over illegal acquisition of a $5 million villa, the sale of a two million square metre plot of state land in the Sharm el-Shaikh resort and profiteering from a deal for the purchase by Israel of natural gas at below-market rates. The maximum sentence for these crimes is 15 years imprisonment.

The proceedings descended into chaos as nearly 200 lawyers clamoured to be heard by the three-judge panel. Chairman Ahmad Refaat demanded order but confusion reigned.

Both sides reiterated their demand that the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Field Marshal Muhammad Hussein Tantawi, who currently exercises presidential powers, be called as a witness.

Both sides argue that he might be able to state whether or not Mubarak issued the order to Mr Adly to suppress the protests forcibly. During the 18-day uprising, 846 civilians were killed and 6,000 were wounded.

Judge Refaat asked the dozens of lawyers representing families to choose one of their number to present the case. This was vociferously rejected.

After a recess, Judge Refaat declared that Mubarak’s murder trial would be joined to that of Mr Adly, which is set to resume on September 5th and that further sessions would not be televised live.

The first decision was welcomed by both sides but the second is likely to be rejected by the democracy movement, which demands transparency in high- profile trials meant to ensure that ousted regime law-breakers be held publicly accountable for crimes committed during Mubarak’s entire 30-year rule.