The judge for the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Monday that lawyers representing the families of those killed in the country's uprising last January continue to plot to force him out of the trial.
Ahmed Refaat made the accusation during the trial after one of the plaintiffs' lawyers said that he had submitted an appeal to the Supreme Constitutional Court to halt the review of the case because it does not fall within the court's area of jurisdiction. Other lawyers working on the plaintiffs' side attacked their colleague for filing the suit, saying it hampered the progress of the case.
Refaat's removal would further delay the trial for Mubarak and other officials on charges of ordering the killing of protesters, which many Egyptians complain has been inept and lethargic in delivering justice.
Previously, the trial was suspended for two months after the lawyers representing the attorney general and martyrs' families filed a suit asking for Refaat's replacement. The September request was denied, and the trial resumed in December.
Refaat said he does not plan to bow out of the case despite pressure from the lawyers.
Egyptian news reports have repeatedly blamed the lack of coordination among the plaintiffs' lawyers on their large number and disparate tactics. At one of the early sessions of the trial, one of the lawyers claimed that the person standing trial was not Mubarak but someone who resembled him, alleging that Mubarak died in 2005.
Plaintiffs' lawyers have repeatedly complained that they were not given enough time to present their arguments and accused the panel of judges presiding over the trial of being biased.
The trial is scheduled to hear the case for the defense team of Adly Fayed, first assistant to former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, on Monday.
