Mubarak in court to face murder, corruption charge

Egypt's fallen president Hosni Mubarak returned to a court on Monday, wheeled on a stretcher, to answer charges of killing 800 pro-democracy protesters.

Mubarak, along with his two sons Alaa and Gamal, was in a dock in a cage built for his safety. He was flown in by a helicopter from a Cairo hospital where he had been detained since his first court appearance on August 3.

The ousted leader was seen exchanging words with his sons who were in white prison uniform, even as the judge tried to restore order in the court-room.

The 83-year-old Mubarak has pleaded not guilty to charges of ordering firing on pro-democracy protesters during demonstrations seeking his ouster. The judge had ordered the continuation of his trial after he appeared in court for the first time earlier in August. Mubarak has also been hauled up for corruption charges.

Mubarak faces the death penalty if found guilty of ordering the killing of protesters in this year's uprising.

A number of Mubarak supporters had gathered outside the court room, some chanting, "He is Egyptian until death" and "Hosni Mubarak is not Saddam".

Scuffles broke out at regular intervals with anti-Mubarak protesters.

State TV showed the former president, wearing a blue jumpsuit, being wheeled out of an ambulance on a hospital bed. His son Alaa tried to cover the camera.

The second hearing in the historic trial could decide if the head of the ruling military council, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, will take the stand as a witness to give testimony on Mubarak's role in trying to suppress the 18-day uprising.

Tantawi, who was defence minister for two decades under Mubarak, heads the military council that took power when Mubarak was ousted on February 11 by the mass protests.

In a development that has gripped the Arab world, Mubarak first appeared in court on August 3, wheeled in on a stretcher in a cage.

He was flown in from the Red Sea resort town of Sharam el-Sheikh, where he is under arrest in a hospital, by a helicopter and brought to the courtroom on a stretcher with an intravenous drip. 

Image: Hosni Mubarak at the courtroom in Cairo | Photograph: Reuters