CAIRO: Following chaos that marred the trial of former interior Minister Habib El-Adly and six of his assistants for their involvement in killing protesters on Saturday, lawyers representing the victims’ families demanded the presiding judge step down.
The hearing, which never took place, was adjourned to Saturday to June 26.
“We filed five complaints against Judge [Abdel-Salam Gomaa] to the Prosecutor General, the head of the appeals court and the Minister of Justice,” civil society lawyer volunteering for the prosecution, Samir Helmy, told Daily News Egypt.
Helmy said Gomaa was unable to secure a trial of that magnitude, in addition to his strong links with the former corrupt regime. He added that the lawyers couldn’t see the defendants in the dock because there were security guards blocking them inside and outside the dock, which is against the law.
“[Civil society lawyers] went through many difficulties and hardships from security forces in order to enter the court and attend the trial,” he said.
“The judge was supposed to move the trial to a larger courtroom,” lawyer Mohamed Safi Eldin told DNE.
“This would help accommodate the large number of civil society lawyers representing the victims of the Jan. 25 Revolution,” he added.
Essam El-Batawy, lawyer representing El-Adly, agreed with the civil society lawyers saying, “I believe as a lawyer that it would be better for Gomaa to step down from this case instead of being forced off the case by an appeals court, which is his second option.”
Civil society lawyers also demanded that ousted president Hosni Mubarak be included in the trial for accusations that he gave orders to El-Adly to kill the protesters.
Dozens of lawyers and reporters were prevented from accessing the courtroom despite having official clearance.
At one point, the crowd forcibly pushed through the cordon of riot police surrounding the court house. Mild clashes erupted as people were blocked by riot police and barricades, and prevented from reaching the courthouse.
Eventually security forces allowed people with official clearance to enter the courthouse. However, they were prevented from entering the courtroom and attending the trial.
Several witnesses were also prevented from attending the trial despite carrying an official summons issued by the court.
Physician Sherif Hussein, who volunteered in a makeshift hospital near Tahrir Square during the 18 days of demonstrations, said he was summoned to testify in the last hearing on April 26 and yet he was also prevented from entering the courtroom because it was packed.
Physician Asmaa Sadek, who was summoned to testify on Saturday, said she was also prevented from entering the courtroom, despite presenting an official document proving that she was a witness.
Dozens of protesters stood outside the courthouse before the trial began, chanting “execute the murderer,” referring to El-Adly and demanding access to the courtroom. Some of the families of the martyrs were eventually allowed in.
A youth-led uprising in Egypt that started on Jan. 25 and continued for 18 days led to the ouster of then president Hosni Mubarak. Violent clashes between security forces and demonstrators during the first few days left at least 846 dead and over 6,000 injured, according to an official report by a fact-finding mission.
El-Adly is alleged to have ordered the police to withdraw from Egypt’s streets, creating a security vacuum that lasted for weeks since the night of Jan. 28, dubbed the “Friday of Anger.”
He also faced other charges in second trial on Saturday along with Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali for illegal profiteering by importing number plates from a German company for LE 92 million more than the local market price for no justifiable reason and without holding a public tender.
The latter case was adjourned to June 25, to give the defense team time to prepare their case and summon witnesses. Boutros-Ghali is out of the country.
On May 5, El-Adly was sentenced to 12 years in prison for money laundering and unlawful acquisition of public funds, the first convicted official of the regime of former Mubarak, who was forced to step down on Feb. 11.
Last week, he was remanded in custody for 15 days pending investigation into new corruption charges.
