Northern, WI 8/15/2011 (PennyPayDay) – The trial of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's former president, who faces charges over the deaths of protesters during the uprising that led to his toppling earlier this year, has been adjourned until next month amid chaotic scenes in a Cairo court.Trial judge Ahmed Rifaat said the court would reconvene on September 5 to hear evidence. He also ruled that the trial, which was being broadcast live by many channels and on big screens outside the court, should not be televised until sentencing.
Rifaat also ordered that Mubarak's trial should be merged with proceedings against his former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, whose trial had already been adjourned until September 5.
Mubarak, 83, who has mostly been confined to hospital since he was toppled by mass protests in February, was wheeled into the Cairo court on a stretcher as the trial resumed on Monday morning.
Dressed in a navy blue sports sweater, Mubarak appeared inside the courtroom in a caged defendants' box, along with his sons, Gamal and Alaa, who face corruption charges, and answered, "Present", when the judge called his name.
Scores of lawyers representing some of those killed during the protests that toppled Mubarak are attending the trial and Refaat struggled to maintain order amid chaotic scenes as the court convened.
Hundreds of riot police stood guard outside the court but scuffles broke out between supporters of the former president and those demanding that Mubarak be held responsible for those killed in the final weeks of his rule.
Defence lawyers have called for hundreds of witnesses to testify in the case, including the head of Egypt's ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who was Mubarak's defence minister for two decades.
Tantawi's possible testimony on the former president's role in trying to suppress the 18-day uprising, in which more than 800 people were killed, is considered critical by many to the outcome of the case.
"Tantawi's testimony would help the court determine whether Mubarak gave orders to interior minister Habib al-Adly to fire at protesters or whether Adly was acting independently," said one member of the defence team, who asked not to be named.
Lawyers for the families of those killed have also demanded Tantawi testify in the trial.
"The defence team sees Tantawi as a compurgator, or a witness whose testimony would exonerate Mubarak. The plaintiffs' lawyers, however, expect him to testify that he received orders to fire, which is necessary to convict Mubarak," another lawyer handling the case said.
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