Today's newspapers highlight the former president's last trial session the day before yesterday and all the commotion around it.
According to party paper Al-Wafd, Appeal Attorney Essam Aboul Ella filed a lawsuit against the minister of justice, the head of Qasr al-Nil Court and Judge Ahmed Refaat to appeal the decision to stop televising the trial. Aboul Ella stated that preventing the broadcast of the trial is illegal and against the public interest.
Al-Wafd also stated that Mohamed Abdel Fattah al-Gendy, one of the lawyers representing former Minister of Interior Habib al-Adly, reportedly anticipates grand events during the ongoing trial and says the former minister will address the public from behind bars. Adly will allegedly discuss details involving Hosni Mubarak, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and former Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. Gendy stated that his client doesn’t see any need to stop broadcasting the trial when it reconvenes.
On a different note, state-owned Al-Ahram states on its fifth page that Adly's defense presented 30 notes concerning evidence in the case of killing protesters. The defense stated that no live ammunition shells were found at the crime scene and that the bullet shells found on the American University in Cairo (AUC) rooftop were handed to the authorities on 5 March, 36 days after the Tahrir Square events, which may be an attempt from the AUC and US Embassy to drive a wedge between the police and the people of Egypt. There was no mention of Adly's public speech in the upcoming trial.
State-owned newspaper Al-Akhbar leads with criticism of Mubarak’s blue suit and the handcuffs on Alaa and Gamal Mubarak. According to the newspaper, a number of lawyers criticized the former president's blue prison jumper and said that he should be wearing a white prison uniform since he has not been sentenced yet. They also criticized the fact that both Gamal and Alaa were not wearing handcuffs, which contradicts prison service regulations.
Head of the Cairo Appeals Court Abdel Aziz Omar tells Al-Akhbar that the color of the suit is the responsibility of the prison service and that any controversy about the defendants' clothing is trivial to the court.
Al-Akhbar reports that for the first time a human rights delegation is inside the infamous Tora prison, although prominent prisoners reportedly refused to meet the delegation and did not allow any inspection of their cells. For three hours the delegation toured the prison facility and apparently made sure that all cells had a refrigerator, fan and beds for the prisoners.
Independent newspaper Al-Shorouk dedicates its front page to alleged Mubarak followers for rent. The newspaper writes that special buses with no license plates transported supporters of the Mubarak clan to court on Monday. Witness Mohamed Rakha tells the paper that three buses transported around 150 people to the Police Academy and most of them wore t-shirts saying "I am Egyptian and I refuse the humiliation of the leader of the nation."
Al-Shorouk also covers calls for dividing Mubarak's trial into three. A number of judges and legal experts say the charge of killing protesters should be heard in a separate session from the rest of the charges, which include profiteering and corruption. Former judge Abou Bakr al-Helaly reportedly says the prosecution's decision to lump the charges together was a mistake as each one involves a separate list of witnesses, making it difficult for the courtroom to fully consider each charge.
Egypt's papers:
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run
Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party
Youm7: Weekly, privately owned
