Adjourned Mubarak retrial to resume today, Muslim Brotherhood lawsuit postponed until February

Published November 17th, 2013 - 06:40 GMT
Former president Mubarak's retrial started earlier this year, but was delayed in April after the presiding judge resigned from the hearing minutes after the trial began (AFP/Getty Images)
Former president Mubarak's retrial started earlier this year, but was delayed in April after the presiding judge resigned from the hearing minutes after the trial began (AFP/Getty Images)

Cairo Criminal Court adjourned to Sunday the retrial of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, and his former interior minister, Habib El-Adly.

Together with six security aides, the accused are currently facing retrial on charges of complicity in the killing of over 800 protesters during the January 2011 uprising.

The Sunday session will include testimonies from two of El-Adly's aides. 

The 85-year-old deposed president and El-Adly both received life sentences in June 2012 on charges of political responsibility for the killing of peaceful protesters during the uprising that led to Mubarak's ouster.

Those verdicts were overturned in January 2013 by an appeals court on the grounds of procedural improprieties.

Mubarak's first trial began in August 2011.

Mubarak also faces charges, together with business tycoon Hussein Salem, of squandering public funds by selling natural gas to Israel at below market prices.

The ousted president is currently under house arrest by order of the government as the appeals court released him after he had served the maximum of two years in provisional detention.

In related news from Egypt, the High Administrative Court postponed lawsuits Saturday calling for the disbanding of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, until 15 February 2014.

The court was expected to issue a decision on the lawsuits after its board of commissioners recommended disbanding the party earlier on Saturday. 

Head of the judicial group the judge's Independence Current , Ahmed El-Fadali, filed a lawsuit against the party, arguing that it is illegal because it was founded on a religious basis, which became unconstitutional based on the 8 July 2013 interim constitutional declaration.

Article 10 of the July declaration states: "No political party shall be formed that discriminates on the basis of gender, origin or religion."

El-Fadali also said that since a recent court ruling officially banned the Brotherhood, a political party springing from the same group should also be banned.  

On 23 September, a court banned all Muslim Brotherhood activities and ordered the seizure of the group's assets and funds. The court also outlawed any institution connected to the Brotherhood.

The group appealed the decision shortly after, but the appeal was rejected on 6 November. 

The FJP was founded following the 2011 revolution that resulted in the ouster then-president of 30 years Hosni Mubarak. The party nominated Mohamed Morsi to run as its candidate in the 2012 Egyptian presidential elections. Morsi won the elections, but was deposed a year later by the army amid mass protests against his rule. 

Since Morsi's ouster, the Brotherhood has been protesting what they consider a "coup" against the country's first democratically elected president. Tensions have risen between security forces and Brotherhood supporters amid a harsh crackdown on the latter's members. Hundreds of Morsi's supporters have been arrested in recent months, and many will stand trial, primarily for charges of inciting violence.

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