Deposed President Hosni Mubarak has been summonsed to stand trial in Cairo on Wednesday, together with his sons Alaa and Gamal, fugitive business tycoon Hussein Salem, and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six of his aides.
The defendants are accused of killing demonstrators during the revolution, profiteering and exporting gas to Israel at prices lower than international market rates.
Sources said Mubarak consulted with his lawyer before acknowledging receipt of the court summons.
“We’ll fly Mubarak on a military aircraft from Sharm el-Sheikh to the courtroom in Cairo,” said Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy.
On Monday, Essawy inspected the courtroom at the Police Academy in New Cairo, where the trial is to take place. “The plane will land on the academy’s heliport,” he said.
Sources at the Arab Contractors, the company that has constructed the steel cage in which the defendents are to be held during the court proceedings, said they put a bed inside it so that Mubarak can lie down during the trial.
Judge Ahmed Fahmy Refaat called on all parties attending the trial to abide by the rules of order so as to hold the trial in a “civilized” manner. “This will help expedite the verdict,” he said.
Sources said the main witness in the case will be former chief of intelligence Omar Suleiman.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
