Tantawi, Anan to testify in Mubarak trial

Former head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Hussein Tantawi and former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Sami Anan are scheduled to testify during Hosni Mubarak’s trial on December 14 and 15 respectively, state-owned daily Al-Ahram reported on Monday.

The Cairo Criminal Court on Monday postponed the trial to listen to witnesses’ testimonies.

Former head of military police Hamdy Badeen is also expected to testify on December 16.

Mubarak is accused of ordering the killing of protesters during the 18-day popular uprising in 2011.

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.

In 2011, Tantawi had testified in the trial of Mubarak in a closed hearing and under a gag order on media coverage, which several local and international news outlets, as well as bloggers, defied.

Tantawi maintained that the Armed Forces were not ordered to shoot the demonstrators, “and we would never do so.”

In August 2012, then President Mohamed Morsi sacked both Tantawi and Anan, replacing the former with General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Many commentators at the time read this as a bold move against the influence of the military on the country’s affairs, but less than a year later Sisi was instrumental in the ouster of the president.

Last August, General Prosecutor Hesham Barakat ordered the release of Mubarak, as he had served the maximum amount of pre-trial detention permitted in the case.

Mubarak remains under house arrest pursuant to a directive issued by Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi.