Chaotic scenes as Mubarak returns to court

Judge could rule if former president's defence chief, now head of Egypt's army council, should be summoned as witness.
Last Modified: 15 Aug 2011 00:33
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The former president has pleaded "not guilty" along with his sons to charges of murder and corruption [AFP]

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's former president, is back in court to face charges of killing protesters, in a hearing that could decide if the head of the ruling military council will take the stand as a witness.

Mubarak, 83, who has mostly been confined to hospital since he was toppled by mass protests in February, was wheeled into the Cairo court on a stretcher on Monday morning.

He appeared inside the courtroom in a caged defendants' box, along with his sons, Gamal and Alaa, who face corruption charges, and answered, "Present", when trial judge Ahmed Refaat called his name.
Click here for our live blog on the trial

Scores of lawyers representing some of those killed during the protests that toppled Mubarak are attending the trial and Refaat struggled to maintain order amid chaotic scenes as the court convened.

Hundreds of riot police stood guard outside the court but scuffles broke out between supporters of the former president and those demanding that Mubarak be held responsible for those killed in the final weeks of his rule.

Defence lawyers say that any testimony by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who was Mubarak's defence minister for two decades, on the former president's role in trying to suppress the 18-day uprising, in which more than 800 people were killed, could be critical to the case.

But Al Jazeera correspondent Rawya Rageh said the trial was likely to focus mainly on corruption and profiteering charges, rather than the charge of conspiring to kill protesters or the excessive use of force against protesters.

Scuffles and chaos

Scores of pro- and anti-Mubarak protesters gathered on Monday to rally and watch proceedings of the trial on a giant screen placed outside the courthouse.

Some 5,000 riot police officers were deployed along with armoured cars outside the court to keep apart the two groups watching the trial's second session on the screen.

The police had separated the groups with cordons but brief clashes broke out when one pro-Mubarak protester crossed over into the other group and engaged in a conversation with his counterpart which escalated into a fight, Rageh reported from the scene.

"Security officials have managed to push everyone as far away as possible ... but the situation remains tense," she reported.

"People are carrying stones, rocks, batons and others are seen trying to come up with things to throw."

First leader to stand trial

Mubarak made his first court appearance on August 3 in a case that has gripped the Arab world.

The first Arab head of state to stand trial in person since popular uprisings swept the Middle East, the former air force commander faces charges that could carry the death penalty.

In the first court session, defence lawyers asked for Tantawi, former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and about 1,600 others to testify as witnesses.

Defence lawyers said the accounts would be vital for either incriminating or exonerating Mubarak from involvement in killing protesters.

"Tantawi's testimony would help the court determine whether Mubarak gave orders to interior minister Habib al-Adly to fire at protesters or whether Adly was acting independently," said one member of the defence team, who asked not to be named.

A judge on Sunday set the next hearing for Adly and six of his lieutenants, who also face charges, for September 5.

Lawyers for the families of those killed have also demanded Tantawi testify in the trial.

"It is important for the court to meet the requests of the defence team, especially the request to hear the accounts of Field Marshal Tantawi in court to determine whether Mubarak asked him to confront and fire at protesters or not," the lawyer said.

"The defence team sees Tantawi as a compurgator, or a witness whose testimony would exonerate Mubarak. The plaintiffs' lawyers, however, expect him to testify that he received orders to fire, which is necessary to convict Mubarak," another lawyer handling the case said.

Essam Soltan, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, said Judge Ahmed Refaat would ask lawyers to justify their request to summon Tantawi to testify before ruling on it.

The cases of the defendants are interlinked and each could accuse his superior of giving the orders to fire, thus weakening the case against Mubarak, Soltan said.

The military said officers called in by the judge to give their testimony would attend. But a judicial source said even if Tantawi were asked to testify, his testimony would come later in the trial to shield the army from scrutiny during the controversial case.