Mubarak returns to court as trial in Egypt resumes

CAIRO – The trial of Hosni Mubarak resumed Wednesday after a 3-month break, with the ousted Egyptian leader returning to the metal defendants’ cage in a Cairo courtroom.

Egyptian state television showed the 83-year-old Mubarak covered by a green blanket and lying on a hospital gurney when he was brought from a helicopter and taken to an ambulance for the short ride to the courthouse. He remained on the gurney throughout the hearing and spoke only once to say “present” when Judge Ahmed Rifaat called out his name at the start of the session.

Mubarak is charged with complicity in the killing of more than 800 protesters in the crackdown on a popular uprising in January and February that forced him out of office. He could face the death penalty if convicted. He has been under arrest since April, but he has never gone to prison and instead has been confined to hospitals. His lawyers and doctors say he is suffering from heart ailments.

Mubarak and his two sons, who are in prison, also face corruption charges in the same case.

Wednesday’s session lasted for only a few hours. The next session is set for Monday. An 18-day uprising forced Mubarak to step down on Feb. 11 after 29 years in power.

Protests and unrest have continued throughout the year, with pro-democracy activists keeping up pressure for reforms from the military, which took over from Mubarak. Clashes between protesters and security forces have killed more than 100 people since Mubarak’s ouster.

Rifaat, the judge, approved new requests from defense lawyers to expand the case to include other incidents of violence and deaths of protesters since Mubarak’s ouster. Mubarak’s lawyers argued that the killing of protesters continued even after he stepped down and asked for this to be considered evidence that he was not responsible for the killings.

The requests appeared to be part of a strategy to try to show that the protesters were not killed by security forces, but rather by assailants working for a foreign nation or criminals impersonating police officers.