CAIRO: Defendant and outspoken lawyer Mortada Mansour demanded Sunday that the presiding judge in the "Camel Battle" trial step down, infuriating the rest of the defense team who approve of the judge.
Mansour did not attend Sunday’s hearing, but during recess, an official letter arrived from the appeals court citing Mansour’s demand.
The court adjourned the trial until December 19 to issue a verdict on his request.
Mansour accused Judge Mostafa Hassan Abdallah of insulting the lawyers and oppressing his right to speak, cross-examine witnesses and defend himself, according to lawyers.
The judge had kicked out Mansour during the fourth hearing on Sep. 17 for interrupting a witness’ testimony and accusing him of perjury.
"Mortada Mansour is a troublemaker — he’s the only one who disapproves of the judge," defense lawyer Saad Ahmed Saad, representing former MP Hassan El-Tonsy, told Daily News Egypt.
Earlier in the hearing, several defendants voiced their approval of the judge from the dock, including former MPs Mohamed Ouda and Ragab Hemeida.
"We believe that this court will find us innocent," Hemeida said.
Abdallah said it is every defendant’s right to call for the judge to step down. If the appeals court approves Mansour’s demand, the case will be referred to a different court.
Twenty-five former officials and MPs have been charged with inciting attacks aimed at terrorizing peaceful protesters in Tahrir Square on Feb. 2, which left numbers dead and injured, in a bid to disperse mass protests using horses and camels.
One of the defendants, Adel Nasser El-Gabry, died on Sept. 27 after a battle with cancer.
Ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his sons are being tried in a separate case for their involvement in killing peaceful protesters during the 18-day revolt, in addition to other corruption charges.
Before recess, the court listened to the testimonies of five defense witnesses, all of whom participated in the pro-Mubarak demonstration in Mostafa Mahmoud Square early on Feb. 2.
They all said that the "peaceful" Mubarak supporters were not planning on heading to Tahrir Square to forcibly disperse protesters demanding the fall of the regime
"We just wanted stability and we did not want [the country] to be vandalized," said witness Safwat Mahrous, 40.
There were slight contradictions in the testimonies: The first two witnesses denied seeing defendant and former MP Youssef Khattab riding a camel in Mostafa Mahmoud Square. The third witness, Fargany Saleh who owns a tourism company, said Khattab did ride a camel for a couple of steps, under pressure from camel riders who wanted to take pictures with him.
Saleh maintained the previous testimonies of horseback riders, saying that around nine horses and three camels strayed on their way back to Nazlet El-Semman and accidentally ended up in Tahrir.
"Some people told them to take an easier route through Sixth of October Bridge, passing the Semiramis Hotel then towards Cairo University and to Nazlet El-Semman — that is how they ended up in Tahrir," he explained.
Nazlet El-Semman in the Haram district of Giza is home to a cluster of horse and camel stables whose usual business is to take tourists around the Pyramids.
The first two witnesses admitted that they were supporters of Khattab. Mahrous admittedly visited the defendant in his home and rode his private car.
The last witness Soheir Youssry, 35, admitted that she was bailed out of prison in 2000 by defendant Sherif Waly, once secretary general of the dissolved and former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). Youssry had been detained with others for her participation in protests supporting the Palestinian Intifada.
She said she did not know Waly personally at the time, but later went to thank him for helping her. She did not explain why he helped her, but it was pointed out that Waly was the director of a youth employment center as well as being a member of the NDP in 2004, but left the party in 2005.
Youssry said Waly refused calls to head to Tahrir from Mostafa Mahmoud, saying, "We will voice our opinion from here."
All the witnesses testified that protesters in Mostafa Mahmoud were unarmed and that they were not incited by anyone to participate in pro-Mubarak protests.
"I heard on television that there was a protest supporting Mubarak in Mostafa Mahmoud," Youssry said.
Director of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center and civil society lawyer in the case, Ahmed Ragheb, said these testimonies do not serve the defendants’ case.
"There are many contradictions that we will point out during the closing argument," he told DNE.
Youssry said she protested in Tahrir from Jan. 26 until the dawn of Feb. 2. She headed to Mostafa Mahmoud on Feb. 2 after listening to Mubarak’s speech, which she believes met her and her friends’ demands.
"I believe Mubarak would have handed over power after six months, not because of his love for the people, but to preserve his name," she said.
In Saturday’s hearing, former speaker of the People’s Assembly and defendant Fathi Sorour came out of the dock to cross-examine a witness who accused him of being involved in the Camel Battle.
"There were altercations between you and me because you were not accurate in publishing news and because you previously published false news about the parliament and the cabinet," Sorour said, addressing the witness, Mohamed El-Sayed.
El-Sayed, known as Mohamed Abou Zeid, head of the parliamentary section in Al-Shorouq newspaper, was summoned to testify by civil society lawyers.
According to his testimony, director of Sorour’s office, Youssry El-Sheikh, interrupted a meeting on Feb. 2 to say that 1,000 camels, horses and carriages were heading to Tahrir from Nazlet El-Semman.
El-Sheikh requested that Sorour greet Mubarak supporters from El-Sayeda Zeinab district, heading towards the square, but Sorour said he would do so after the meeting.
Sorour had held a meeting on Feb. 2 with a number of MPs, government officials and a handful of journalists to discuss issues of reform. Abou Zeid said that around 10 journalists attended.
However, three other journalists who attended — including two with Al-Masry Al-Youm and one with Akher Sa’aa magazine — gave different accounts of the same meeting.
Hossam Sadaqa and Emad Fouad Aly, witnesses and journalists at Al-Masry Al-Youm, testified that El-Sheikh later interrupted telling Sorour to end the meeting quickly because there was news that Tahrir protesters were heading towards the People’s Assembly headquarters.
Civil society lawyers accused Sorour of having close relations with Al-Masry Al-Youm’s Managing Director Mahmoud Mosallam, thus preventing the paper’s reporters from revealing the truth.
"Salem is known to be a former member of the NDP and a member of the Cairo Local Council," Ragheb said.
Defense lawyers refuted these accusations, describing Abou Zeid as a "liar."
