(AFP File PHOTO/AHMED RAMDAN)
The private trial for ousted President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak was postponed until 14 December to hear witness statements from former Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces General Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
Other individuals to testify on 15 and 16 December include former military Chief of Staff General Sami Annan and former Chief of the Military Police General Hamdy Badeen. Badeen was set to testify on Monday but is currently serving as the military attaché to the Egyptian consulate in China and was unable to appear in court.
Also facing charges are former Interior Minister Habib El- Adly, six of his aides, Gamal and Alaa Mubarak, and fugitive businessman Hussein Salem who are facing charges ranging from killing protestors to financial corruption.
Witness statements from Hisham Mohamed Ibrahim Kandil, former chief of military investigations in the Armed Forces were heard on Monday.
Kandil faced 54 questions from attorneys representing the defence lawyers, victims’ lawyers and the prosecution. He answered all questions by saying he was unauthorized to answer.
On Saturday and Sunday First Assistant to the Interior Minister for Technical Affairs Murtada Ibrahim AbdelRahman, director of the General Administration office for the previous Interior minister Habib El-Adly, former Major General Ahmed Omar Abu Saoud and former Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif testified.
Presiding Judge Mahmoud Kamel El-Rachidi ordered a media blackout on the current sessions. On 10 June El-Rachidi banned the civil claims lawyers representing the victims from being present at the retrial for it to remain exclusive to defendants and the prosecution.
The trial is being held at the North Cairo Criminal Court, located in the 5th Settlement at the Police Academy, which was formerly known as the Mubarak Security Academy.
On 21 October the court heard witness statements from public officials, including former commander of the Central Military Zone Major General Hassan Al-Roweiny, and Omar Al-Dardeer, Head of the Investigation Unit at Minya Prison during the 25 January Revolution, former Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, former Minister of Interior Ahmad Gamal Al-Din and current Minister of Petroleum Sherif Ismail.
The six aides of Habib El-Adly are: Major General Ahmed Ramzi, former head of the Central Security Forces; Major General Adly Fayed, former head of the Department of Public Security; Major General Hassan Abdel-Rahman, former head of State Security; Major General Ismail Al-Shaer, former head of the Cairo Security Directorate; Major General Osama Al-Marasy, former head of the Giza Security Directorate; and Major General Omar Farmawi, head of the 6th of October Security Directorate.
