Mubarak trial to begin in Cairo

2 August 2011 Last updated at 20:56 ET

Hosni Mubarak has been treated in hospital in the coastal resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since April

The trial of Egypt’s ex-President Hosni Mubarak, who was forced from office by mass demonstrations in February, is due to start in the capital, Cairo.

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 former other officials will also be in court.

Some 3,000 soldiers and police have been drafted in to maintain order at Cairo’s police academy for the trial.

Spectators

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.

Mr Mubarak, 83, has been under arrest at a hospital in the coastal resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh since April.

He will is to be flown to the police academy just before the session. Early on Wednesday, Egyptian TV reported that a plane that would transfer Mr Mubarak had landed in Sharm el-Sheikh.

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.

A cage has been built for the defendants in the courtroom

Mr Mubarak’s lawyer insists the former president is seriously ill.

The BBC’s Jon Leyne in Cairo says many Egyptians are sceptical about this and believe the military do not want to see the former president humiliated.

It is a very tense moment for Egypt, and if Mr Mubarak does not appear in court there could be serious confrontations on the streets, our correspondent adds.

Over the last month there have been renewed sit-in protests in Tahrir Square by people fed up 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, who is going on trial with Mr Mubarak on Wednesday, was sentenced to 12 years in jail in May for money-laundering and profiteering.

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