Mubarak trial postponed to September 14

The Cairo Criminal Court, headed by Judge Mahmoud Kamel al-Rashidy, decided Sunday to postpone the trial of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, in which he is accused of ordering the killing of protesters during the 18-day popular uprising in 2011, to September 14.

The case also involves charges of squandering public money through the Israel gas-exporting deal and destroying relevant documents related to the killings.

Mubarak's two sons, Gamal and Alaa, fugitive businessman Hussien Salem, and former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six of his assistants are also on trial in the same case.

Farid al-Deeb, defense lawyer for the former president, objected to the court's decision to combine the two cases — the protesters' killing and the squandering of public wealth — claiming that as a result Alaa and Gamal are falsely incriminated in the former.

The court had approved the formation a of tripartite committee composed of two senior armed forces officers and a forensic doctor to review the evidence of ammunitions and weapons used in the case of the demonstrators' killings.

Last year, Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison for failing to prevent the killing of more than 800 protesters. Later, a court accepted his appeal for retrial.

General Prosecutor Hesham Barakat ordered the release of Mubarak last week, as he has served the maximum amount of pre-trial detention permitted in the case.

Mubarak will remain under house arrest as per a decision by Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi in his capacity as deputy military commander under the rules of the Emergency Law currently in place.