By Essam Fadl
CAIRO: The general prosecution office said Wednesday it will interrogate former interior minister Habib El-Adly regarding his connection to security forces’ withdrawal on Jan. 28, which was followed by a wave of looting and thuggery across the country, as well as orders to shoot protesters on the same day.
Judiciary sources told Daily News Egypt that the prosecution office has not set a specific date to interrogate El-Adly, only saying that it may happen in the coming days.
Sources also said that the prosecution is still interrogating some of police officers and riot police who were on duty during the January 25 Revolution, in addition to the families of martyrs, those injured and other eyewitnesses.
Sources said that police officers claimed they were directly ordered to shoot at protesters, without mentioning the source of those orders. They also spoke of receiving orders to withdraw from the streets on Jan. 28.
The prosecution has not yet pressed police officers with specific charges regarding the responsibility of shooting the protesters, and is continuing to interrogate those involved.
Former head of state security General Fouad Allam testified before the prosecution on Tuesday and confirmed that a decision to withdraw from the streets cannot be executed without an order from the interior minister.
He told Daily News Egypt that the case of shooting protesters will take a long time to investigate given the weight of the matter. “At the end, certain police officers will be charged with shooting protesters while the minister of interior will face a criminal responsibility that will lead to a trial.”
Head of the Cairo Appeals Court El-Sayed Abdel-Aziz Omar decided earlier to move El-Adly’s trial, scheduled to take place on Saturday, from the Supreme Judiciary Court to New Cairo Court in the Fifth District.
The trials of former minister of housing Ahmed El-Maghraby, former CEO of Akhbar Al-Youm Mohammed Ahdy Fadly, businessman Yasseen Mansour and Emarati businessman Waheed Matwally Youssef will be all moved to the New Cairo Court instead of North Cairo Court in Abbasiya. The first hearing is on Tuesday.
Omar attributed the decision to security and traffic concerns.
