CAIRO: In an unexpected semi-tirade at the fifth hearing of the case of killing protesters, ex-interior Minister Habib El-Adly told the court that the testimony of the eighth prosecution witness completely contradicts the facts, adding that “instructions revolved around securing protests.”
All but one of the other defendants in case 1227, which includes ousted president Hosni Mubarak and six of El-Adly’s aides all charged with killing protesters, declined to comment. Defendant General Omar Faramawy said that he did not attend a Jan. 27 meeting in which the strategy was set to confront mass protests in the following days, which eventually toppled the regime.
Completely shielded from view by his son Gamal in the dock, Mubarak said he had no comments to make.
Earlier in the session, the court heard the testimony of witness for the prosecution Lieutenant Colonel Essam Hosni Abbas who heads the conscript affairs department and is responsible for the distribution of troops on the ground.
Abbas said in his testimony and in cross examinations by both defense lawyers and the legal team representing martyrs’ families (civil rights complainants) that even though he had no first hand information about the content of the meeting, it was clear to him that it was then that the strategy was decided. He based his conclusion on the procedures that were put into effect after it was held and on information he received from other police officers.
He also asserted that since the meeting was attended by El-Adly and his aides, the decisions were all reached by consensus, adding that traditionally the maximum level ammunition used by riot police and central security forces (CSF) are metal pellets.
He said that each of the minister’s aides gave direct instructions to their subordinates.
When asked about the standard arms used by regular police, Abbas said that firearms with live ammunition are used by police guarding embassies and vital public buildings.
He said that he is not directly privy to orders given to CSF personnel or whether they were given firearms, but added that amid the chaos it is possible that live ammunition was used but that he could not specify when and where.
When asked, he said that the 12 conscripts whom he mentioned in the prosecution’s interrogation had been killed during the uprising from a variety of gunshot wounds and sharp objects.
Answering a question about what he knew concerning the decision to cut off communications and the internet, Abbas said that this was a sovereign decree based on the instructions and assessment of the state security investigations.
The defense lawyers attempted to prove that Abbas’ account was based on hearsay because he did not personally attend the key meetings, to which he repeatedly insisted that the reality of what happened proves that instructions evolved from the decisions made during these meetings.
Civil rights lawyer and former head of the Lawyers’ Syndicate Sameh Ashour told Daily News Egypt that the witness’ testimony was accurate, supported the case and wholly corresponded to his testimony in the investigation reports. He said that inferences and second hand accounts from credible witnesses are permissible in court and do not discredit the witness.
During the previous hearing on Wednesday, a police officer in court as a witness was charged with giving "false testimony," following accusations in the Egyptian media of a cover-up.
Prosecutor Mostafa Suleiman said police captain Mohamed Abdel Hakim was charged with giving "false testimony in favor of the accused" in the case over the killing of hundreds of protesters in Egypt’s January-February revolution.
He said Hakim testified in court that anti-riot units deployed in Cairo on Jan. 28 had been equipped with blank ammunition and tear gas, whereas he had said in previous questioning that hunting ammunition had been used.
Sixty-two people were reportedly killed in clashes between security forces and demonstrators that day in the capital.
Prosecutors said that police officer Abdel Hakim had initially told the prosecution during their probe that he was given 300 shotgun cartridges, but in court he denied this.
"The guns were not allowed to be with the unit. The instructions were for officers not even to take their personal guns," said Abdel Hakim.
The judge said Hakim would be held in a separate room pending a decision on his testimony. When he was removed, one lawyer shouted after him: "You liar, you liar. You have been paid. This is the blood of your brother."
On Thursday following the recess, the court summoned General Hassan Abdel Hamid Farag, deputy minister of interior for security and training who said in his testimony that the use of violence to confront protesters in January was excessive.
Farag referred to a high level meeting he attended on Jan. 27 at 1:30 pm upon the invitation by telephone of defendant General Adly Fayed, and which was headed by El-Adly and his aides defendants Hassan Abdel Rahman, Ismail El-Shaer, Adly Fayed, Osama Marrasi, Ahmed Ramzy as well as General Mortada Ibrahim, deputy minister for technology affairs and Ahmed Omar Abol Seoud, director of technical operations at the Ministry of Interior.
“The meeting was convened to set the strategy to confront planned Jan. 28 protests,” he said, adding that Ramzy, who headed the CSF at the time, was presenting his plan to El-Adly. “The plan mainly aimed to close off all routes leading to Tahrir Square, using police trucks.”
Farag said that Ramzy promised to deliver “Plan 100 and more,” at which point Ashour intervened to demand more details about what the standard “Plan 100” entails.
Farag later said that this plan is top secret and that he has no knowledge of what it involves, but that from his own experience on the force, the use of violence was excessive and that in the meeting he told Ramzy that his promises were unrealistic since his 15,000-20,000 forces were already exhausted after three straight days with no sleep and no substitutes.
Regarding the communications cut-off, Farag testified that that El-Adly had personally ordered Ibrahim to give instructions to the minister of communications to cut off the internet and telephone lines, which the latter did during the meeting.
Asked whether he knew of clear instructions to use firearms, Farag denied hearing such instructions himself but emphasized that according to the events he witnessed later through satellite TV stations he is certain that metal pellets were used and that other manifestation of how badly managed the crisis was, was the deployment of armored vehicles in areas thick with protesters.
He referred to the scenes widely viewed on TV of a police vehicle running over a conscript and a protester.
He also added that the use of metal pellets at close range was fatal and in this case unnecessary.
“These were unarmed peaceful protesters, so why disperse them all,” he said, adding that even though he had no knowledge of the existence of snipers, the ministers’ aides could not have possibly made the decision to use live ammunition without instructions from El-Adly.
“By using such violence against protesters, the police force became party to the conflict and took the side of the regime against the people,” he said.
Asked by civil rights lawyer Montasser El-Zayat if he knew of any instructions from El-Adly to stop the violence, he said that he was unaware of such instructions.
On Jan. 28 the army was deployed and the police force retreated almost in its entirety after being overrun by tens of thousands of protesters who dominated Tahrir Square.
The head of Egypt’s ruling military council will testify in a closed session next week. Both the defense and prosecution sought the testimony of Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, who was Mubarak’s defense minister and is now the military ruler.
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Sami Enan will also give testimony on Sept. 12 behind closed doors for national security reasons, the judge said.
Mubarak’s former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who also briefly served as vice president, will testify on Tuesday, Sept. 13.
Current Interior Minister Mansour El-Essawy and his predecessor Mahmoud Wagdy will testify on Sept. 14 and 15 respectively, the judge said on Wednesday.
The closed sessions, to start Sunday, will keep key details about the relations between these top figures secret.
Ashour told DNE that all lawyers will be present and are allowed to speak to the media but a publishing ban on reporting on these secret proceedings could end reporters up in jail.
