Security Issues Cloud Mubarak Trial
July 31, 2011 by UPI - United Press International, Inc.
CAIRO, July 31 (UPI) — Security issues have forced the government to move the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to Cairo’s Police Academy, officials said.
Wednesday’s trial was moved from Cairo’s International Convention Center to the Police Academy to provide additional security measures, Bikya Masr reported Sunday.
Mubarak, 83, was arrested in April and he is currently hospitalized for a variety of symptoms, including depression.
He is charged with corruption and murder in the deaths of protesters during 18 days of demonstrations that resulted in his removal. Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and Gamal, charged with corruption, will be tried at the same time.
Habib al-Adly, Egypt’s former Interior Minister, will be tried with Mubark and his sons. He is also charged with the killing of protesters and he previously received a 12-year prison sentence for corruption.
A cage was built to hold the defendants, said appeals court president Abdel Aziz Omar. The auditorium where the relocated trial is to take place can hold about 600 people.
The trial will be shown live on large-screen television sets in Cairo and Giza. The only camera allowed in the trial will be wielded by the state-run MENA news agency.
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