Mubarak Aide Returns to Cairo Court

VOA News August 04, 2011

Former President Hosni Mubarak's interior minister and six police commanders have been returned to an Egyptian court to face charges of ordering security forces to shoot at protesters during the uprising that ousted Mr. Mubarak in February.

Former interior minister Habib al-Adly and the police officers appeared in a Cairo courtroom on Thursday, a day after they appeared alongside Mr. Mubarak. The judge gave the defendants' lawyers more time examine evidence and set the next hearing for August 14.

Al-Adly already has a 12-year prison sentence on a corruption conviction.

Mubarak trial adjourned

On Wednesday, Mubarak was wheeled into the courtroom in a hospital bed. He pleaded not guilty to charges that he ordered the killing of some 850 protesters demanding his ouster. The judge adjourned his case until August 15.

His two sons, Alaa and Gamal, stood next to him during the opening session. Both men also denied separate corruption charges against them.

Mubarak, al-Adly and the six policemen could be sentenced to death if convicted.

Arab Spring

The former president is the first Arab leader to face trial in person since the so-called "Arab Spring" of popular revolts swept across much of North Africa and the Middle East this year. News channels around the world broadcast Wednesday's start of the historic trial.

Mubarak had been living under house arrest with his family at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where aides say he has been in poor health since leaving office. At the close of Wednesday's session, the judge ordered that Mubarak stay at a local hospital in Cairo for the duration of the proceedings.