CAIRO: The Appeals Court said on Tuesday it would review the proceedings of the Mubarak trial at the request of lawyers representing civil rights complainants who want to change the presiding judge.
“The court has agreed to review the evidence and has adjourned the hearing to Oct. 22,” said Abdel Aziz Mohamed Amer, one of the lawyers who filed the case against the current judges.
“It is very probable that the court will make its final decision in this upcoming hearing.”
Lawyers representing the families of martyrs killed during the January uprising accuse the current judge who is overseeing the case of bias. They said he is implementing “unusual” security measures at the court gates and barred many of them from entering during the hearing on Sept. 24.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawy, the head of the ruling military council, was testifying on that day. The judge had ordered a media gag after summoning current and former high profile officials to testify.
“This is a filed complaint, in which the lawyers will have to present their case and all of the evidence which led them to this decision,” said Justice Ahmed Mekky. “The judge involved in the trial will also be called on the witness stand and the proceedings of the case will take time.”
Mubarak’s trial is currently on hold until Oct. 30.
“This will continue postponing Mubarak’s trial,” said Mekky.
However, he added if the lawyer’s feel that the judge has been biased and that they have sufficient proof of this, then the legal proceedings must take their course.
According to the lawyers filing the request, the judge has complicated matters even more by banning live broadcasts of the Mubarak and his ex-security chief’s sessions.
Many of the lawyers said that the court was not neutral, claiming that the presiding judge is unfair to them, acting in favor of the defense lawyers.
They complained that when Tantawy took the witness stand, he arrived earlier than usual, without the knowledge of the victims’ families’ lawyers.
Lawyers said that the hearing began at around 8:45 am, over one hour ahead of the time they expected. They said the courtroom doors were locked shut after Tantawy entered.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers were also not allowed to cross-examine the military ruler.
