Reuters/Cairo
The trial of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak will be held at a police academy in Cairo, with a maximum of 600 people allowed to attend although proceedings will be televised, the presiding judge said yesterday. A source close to Mubarak, who has been in hospital since April when he was first questioned, said on Thursday the former president’s lawyer would tell the court he was too sick to attend the trial due to start on Wednesday. A cabinet statement said the public prosecutor sent a letter to Interior Minister Mansour el-Essawy calling for Mubarak to be present. An official at Mubarak’s hospital said his health was “relatively stable” but his psychological state was worsening. If he is absent due to sickness, that could further anger protesters who want a public trial. Many Egyptians see Mubarak’s illness and detention in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh as a ploy for the army rulers to avoid publicly humiliating their former commander. He has so far been spared transfer to a Cairo prison where his two sons and other officials are held awaiting trial. “In God’s words, if you are to judge people, you must do so with justice,” judge Ahmed Refaat, who is presiding over Mubarak’s case, told a news conference. The briefing was delayed due to a crush of journalists wanting to hear about the case. Mubarak is charged with a range of offences, the most serious of which is conspiring over the killing of protesters during the uprising which led to his overthrow in February. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Protesters and ordinary Egyptians accuse Mubarak, who ruled for 30 years, of leading a corrupt system that routinely tortured people in detention and crushed opponents. They blame him for killing about 850 people in the uprising. Mubarak will stand trial with his sons Gamal—who was once viewed as a possible successor—and Alaa, along with former interior minister Habib al-Adly, business executive and confidant Hussein Salem, and six other police officials. Alongside court officials and lawyers, those allowed to attend the trial include close relations of the accused and accredited journalists, Refaat said. Only the Egyptian state broadcaster would be allowed to set up television cameras. Some members of the public will be allowed to register beforehand to attend. Family members of victims of the uprising and activists had crowded in to hear previous court hearings for the former interior minister and other senior officials. “The court is fully convinced of the Egyptian people’s right to follow what happens in the courtroom in terms of legal procedures,” Refaat said. Egyptian trials were not traditionally broadcast, but high-profile cases since the uprising that ousted Mubarak on February 11 are now televised after protesters demanded more transparency.