Caged Mubarak back in dock for murder trial

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Egypt's toppled president Hosni Mubarak arrived on a stretcher for the resumption of his trial in Cairo on murder and corruption charges on Monday, state television showed.

Mubarak was flown in by helicopter and then transported in an ambulance to the courthouse.

At the opening of his trial on August 3, he pleaded not guilty of the premeditated murder of protesters who took to the streets to oust his regime in an uprising that erupted on January 25.

Mubarak, as in the first hearing, was placed reclined on the stretcher and caged in the dock, alongside his two sons and co-defendants on graft charges, Gamal and Alaa, with whom he briefly exchanged words.

As proceedings resumed when the judge sat down, he lay with hands clenched together across his chest, while his two sons tried to shield him from the television cameras.

Mubarak shares the murder charges with his former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six former police commanders, who are being tried by the same judge in separate hearings.

The lawyers have demanded in particular that video recordings made by the intelligence services during events on January 25 be added to the exhibits.

Mubarak, 83, is accused of involvement in the killings of hundreds of anti-regime activists during a January-February revolt that ended his three decades in power.

He is being held in a military hospital on the outskirts of Cairo.

His first appearance in court came as a shock to Egyptians who watched the proceedings on live television. Few believed he would ever be seen in court.

Mubarak's lawyer Farid al-Deeb has asked the judge, Ahmed Refaat, to call 1,600 witnesses, including top military officials.

The military was called out on January 28, after protesters torched police stations across the country, and took charge on February 11 when Mubarak resigned.

Ahmed Mekki, a retired deputy head of Cairo's appeals court, said the trial will now move to investigating the evidence and calling witnesses, first for the prosecution and then for the defence.

But the court will probably cull the list of witnesses demanded by Deeb, which would provide him with solid ground for appealing a possible guilty verdict, said one of the lawyers representing victims in civil suits.

"If the court does not listen to all the witnesses, it will give grounds for appeal," said Taher Abu Nasr, whose Front for the Defence of Egyptian Protesters represents 35 plaintiffs.

"There will be an appeal, and the appeal will be successful," Abu Nasr said.

Most of the lawyers have yet to review the thousands of documents of evidence that have been provided by the court, some say belatedly.

But judging by the cases of dozens of police commanders who face charges or are on trial over alleged crimes during the revolt, they fear the evidence against Mubarak to be patchy and ill-prepared.

Legal experts say that a thorough investigation into Mubarak's alleged crimes should have taken several more months, but the military and the government expedited the process to mollify protesters.

On Sunday, former interior minister Adly's trial was adjourned to September 5 after a turbulent session.

The hearing was suspended four times in three hours by judge Refaat, who was visibly exasperated by a long list of demands presented by the lawyers of shooting victims.

More than 850 people were killed in the 18 days that led to Mubarak's ouster, and thousands more were wounded.