CLASHES HAVE OCCURED both inside and outside the courtroom where the trial of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is being heard today.
According to Al Jazeera, lawyers for Mubarak had to be separated from prosecutors inside the courtroom, while there have been arrests made outside as protestors threw stones at riot police.
The news agency reports that courtroom proceedings were delayed for about 40 minutes this morning because of the scuffles. Police had to step in to separate the victims’ lawyers from the defence team.
This is Mubarak’s third appearance in the makeshift Cairo courtroom since his trial began on August 3. He faces charges of corruption and ordering the killing of protestors during the uprising which led to his ousting in February this year.
Witnesses are expected to take the stand for the first time today. The list includes four policemen who will testify against Mubarak and his top security officials.
Television ban
The presiding judge in the trial ordered the removal of television cameras after the second hearing descended into chaos last month. He said the decision was made in the “public interest”.
Mubarak arrived to the police academy, where the courtroom has been set up, on a stretcher. He was transferred by helicopter and ambulance because of his ill health. Lawyers for the 83-year-old claim he is suffering from cancer.
Some Egyptians are angry at the decision to stop broadcasting the trial.
Protestors arrived at the courtroom this morning to show their frustration. Attempts were made to enter the academy and television footage shows metal barricades being thrown and hundreds of anti-riot police chasing young men in the streets.
Relatives have voiced their wish to be allowed enter the courtroom even if they cannot watch the hearings unfold on television.
A father of one slain protestor told AP that he was given permission to attend the hearing but once he arrived this morning, there was no permit.
People are very frustrated,” he said. “We said OK when the judge decided to ban the broadcast of the trial, but we want to see it ourselves.
Mubarak is the first Arab leader to stand trial since the Arab Spring movement swept across the region earlier this year. The 83-year-old former president could get the death penalty if found guilty of ordering the killing of protestors.
However, he was not without his supporters today. About 50 people outside the courtroom chanted, “Why humiliate the president who protected us.”
Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and Gamal, are also on trial and will appear in court today.
-Additional reporting by AP
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