Egyptian court postpones verdict in Mubarak retrial (updated)

Egyptian court postpones verdict in Mubarak retrial (updated)

PanARMENIAN.Net - An Egyptian court postponed to Nov 29 its verdict on whether former president Hosni Mubarak ordered the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his three-decade rule, Reuters reported.

Before adjourning the hearing on Saturday, Sept 27, the judge said he and members of the prosecution team had not finished reviewing all the evidence in the case, which amounted to 160,000 pages.

A TV screen in the courtroom showed thousands of documents related to the case piled up in folders and bound with string.

Mubarak, 86, is on trial alongside his sons and a former interior minister. He was initially found guilty of the charges in 2012 and sentenced to life in prison, but a court later overturned the conviction on technical grounds.

Mubarak ruled Egypt for almost 30 years before being ousted in the uprising. He stood down after weeks of unrest ended in the deaths of hundreds of protesters across the country.

The current retrial began in April 2013, and has been adjourned several times since.

In August, Mubarak was allowed to give a court-room speech broadcast on Egyptian television.

In the speech, he defended his human rights record and said he did his best to fulfil his duties as president."I spent my whole life defending Egypt and its sons. I say before God, you and the people that I have spent my life fighting the enemies of the country," he said.

Commentators say that Mubarak could be acquitted after several witnesses changed their evidence in his favor. Mubarak is already serving a three-year prison sentence for embezzlement of public funds.

In August, a court ordered Mubarak's release from prison and transfer to a military hospital in Cairo, where he is being held.

He was previously found guilty of the charge relating to killing protesters in 2012 along with former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, and sentenced to life in prison.

But in January 2013 the Court of Cassation upheld an appeal by the two men against their convictions on technical grounds and ordered a retrial.

His sons Alaa and Gamal are currently serving four-year prison terms for embezzlement of state funds. Together with their father they were also fined $3m (£1.8m) and ordered to repay the $17.6mln they were accused of stealing.

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