Retrial of Egypt’s Mubarak adjourned

Second hearing of new trial of ex-president adjourned to June 10 so judge can review fact-finding committee’s evidence.

Hosni Mubarak
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, shown during the original retrial in April, appeared in good health [AFP]

The second hearing in the new trial of Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak has been adjourned until June 10.

Speaking during Saturday’s brief proceedings, the judge said he would review the evidence given to the court by the fact-finding committee formed by President Mohamed Morsi.

Mubarak and seven senior security chiefs are charged with incitement over the deaths of protesters who rose up against his government.

Along with his two sons, Mubarak is also charged with corruption.

All of the defendants have pleaded “not guilty” to the charges levelled against them.

The former president had been sentenced to life in prison by a previous court, but an appeals court ordered a retrial, citing procedural failures.

The 85-year-old Mubarak appeared in good health on Saturday when he was wheeled into the makeshift court in a police academy lecture hall outside Cairo.

‘Frustration’

Mubarak’s retrial had been due to begin in April, but the judge in that instance recused himself in a hearing that lasted just seconds.

In the trial’s opening session on May 11, Judge Mahmoud al-Rashidi issued an emotional appeal for order, saying he understood “frustration” with the process.

Amid a raucous start to those proceedings, lawyers for the victims’ families taunted Mubarak’s sons Alaa and Gamal, as they stood in the dock with chants of “the people want the execution of the murderer”.

Rashidi confirmed that there would be new evidence presented in the case, which now includes 55,000 pages of documents and adjourned the hearing to June 8.

Egyptians remain polarised by the legacy of the former leader, as the country struggles to move forward under the new government of Morsi, elected in June last year.

Morsi’s tenure has been marked by political division, repeated violence and a crippling economic crisis.

Source: AFP