Egypt: Trial of Mubarak to resume on Wednesday

Cairo: The trial of Hosni Mubarak will resume this week, where the ousted Egyptian president, his two sons and eight others will face a slew of charges related to corruption, ordering the killing of pro-democracy protesters during a popular uprising that toppled his regime in February.

Amid tight security, Cairo Criminal Court under presiding Judge Ahmed Refaat will resume the trial on Wednesday, MENA reported on Monday.

The trial will include Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal, fugitive businessman Hussein Salem, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six of his assistants.

A tight security plan was drafted by the Interior Ministry in cooperation with the Armed Forces to secure the trial venue at the Police Academy.

More than 5,000 officers and soldiers will take part in securing the movement of defendants and the court panel from and to the academy.

As per the plan, a number of Cairo prosecution men and public security inspectors will be deployed around the academy to bar any thug or outlaw from reaching it.

Mubarak, 83, Adli and the six police commanders are facing charges of giving orders and complicity in killing about 800 protesters which is considered by the law as premeditated murder.

Mubarak, his two sons and Salem, who is being tried in absentia, are charged with accepting and offering bribes, financial corruption, deliberate waste of public funds and abusing presidential authority for profiteering by others (Hussein Salem) in the case of exporting Egyptian natural gas to Israel.

In September, Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi had testified in the trial of Mubarak, but had left without being cross-examined.

The testimony of Tantawi, who was Defence Minister for two decades, may prove to be decisive in the case against Mubarak, who has charged with complicity in the killings of protestors during the crackdown on the country's uprising. Tantawi followed the country's former spy chief and vice president Omar Suleiman in testifying in the case.

Mubarak was ousted after 18 days of demonstrations during the 2011 Egyptian revolution when, on February 11, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned as president and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.