08-03-2011, 09:18 AM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14382997
Egypt: Trial of ex-President Hosni Mubarak opens
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AdvertisementHosni Mubarak appeared in court on a stretcher
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The trial of Egypt's ex-President Hosni Mubarak, who was forced from office by mass demonstrations in February, has begun in Cairo.
Mr Mubarak was taken into court at the police academy on a stretcher to cheers from opponents.
He is charged with corruption and ordering the killing of protesters - a charge that carries the death penalty.
His sons Alaa and Gamal, ex-Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six other former officials also face charges.
Some 3,000 soldiers and police have been drafted in to maintain order at the police academy for the trial.
It was originally going to be held in a Cairo convention centre but the authorities moved the venue to a temporary courtroom set up inside the academy because of security concerns.
A cage for the defendants has been built and an estimated 600 people are expected to watch the proceedings.
Scepticism
Mr Mubarak, 83, was flown to Cairo from hospital in the coastal resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he had been detained and receiving treatment since April for a heart condition.
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Analysis
Jon Leyne
BBC News, Cairo
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The main charge Hosni Mubarak is facing is the killing of protesters - and that's going to be hard to prove. It is clear that around 850 protesters were killed, and probably by some sort of government agents.
But it's not clear who gave the orders, or whether there are written or spoken commands that can be proved.
It wasn't done by uniformed officers in full sight, but by gunmen operating at night time from the rooftops of buildings. Pinning that command responsibility on Mr Mubarak is quite a difficult prospect.
Egypt braced for historic trial
He was wheeled into the cage in court on a stretcher, from where he observed proceedings with the other defendants, including his two sons.
Judge Ahmed Refaat opened the session by asking for order, saying "the civilised Egyptian people require calm... to make sure that the mission of the court is carried out fully so we can please God almighty and our consciences".
Everybody is in shock, says the BBC's Jon Leyne, because this is the moment that no-one in Egypt - maybe all of the Middle East - expected to see.
There was absolute amazement and silence from the people gathered outside as they watched a screen that has been erected to show proceedings, our correspondent adds.
Earlier outside the trial venue, scuffles broke out between hundreds of supporters and opponents of the ex-president, with hundreds of white-clad police and riot police with shields and helmets intervening to separate demonstrators hurling stones and bottles at each other.
The former Egyptian leader resigned on 11 February, after 18 days of protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, in which some 850 people were killed.
Mr Mubarak's lawyer insists the former president is seriously ill. Our correspondent says many Egyptians are sceptical about this.
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The charges
Hosni Mubarak: Conspiring in killing of protesters (15 years in prison or death penalty); abusing power to amass wealth (5-15 years)
Alaa and Gamal Mubarak: abusing power to amass wealth (5-15 years)
Former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six aides: Conspiring in killing of protesters (15 years or death penalty)
Hussein Salem, business tycoon and Mubarak confidant: tried in absentia for corruption (5-15 years in prison)
"I don't think anyone has any illusions at the moment that the trial would actually be a real, fair trial," protester Nariman Yousseff told the BBC.
"We're all waiting to see what's going to happen, how they're going to get out of it, because it's been pretty clear and it's become even clearer in the last few days that... the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, who are in charge at the moment, do not really have any intention of fulfilling the revolution's demands."
Over the past month there have been renewed sit-in protests in Tahrir Square by people angry with the slow pace of change in the country.
Among their demands to the military council in charge has been the call for speedier trial for former regime officials.
On Monday and Tuesday, police backed by army troops moved in to clear the last few protesters from square.
The former interior minister, Mr Adly, has already been sentenced to 12 years in jail for money-laundering and profiteering.