The Battle of the Camel trial hearings resumed on Saturday at Cairo Criminal Court. Twenty-five figures of the outgoing Mubarak regime are accused of funding and planning a bloody attack by a camel and horse riders on pro-democracy protesters on 2 February, during the 18-day uprising that ended with the former president’s resignation.
In the Saturday’s fifth hearing, the court is due to hear five witnesses testifying in favor of the defendants after the previous session saw witnesses testify against them.
Defendant and former MP Mortada Mansour was seen entering the court room through the front door at 10 am. One of his lawyers, Medhat al-Naggar told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the case against the defendants was extremely flimsy and there was no hard evidence to indict them.
"All the defendants are in the dock for incitement, so where are the people they incited?" he said.
“This is a public show more than it is a case, done to distract the revolutionaries, just like it was during the old regime."
At 10:40 am, clashes occurred outside the courtroom between security forces on one side and lawyers and journalists on the other. The latter group had been requesting to enter for hours.
The presiding judge expelled a lawyer from the courtroom, insisting that every defendant only be represented by two lawyers.
On the 11 September hearing, the court decided to ban media broadcasts of the case, and said the decision was made to ensure justice is served.
Among those tried are Safwat al-Sherif, former head of the now-dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP), Fathi Sorour, the former speaker of the People's Assembly, businessman and former leading NDP member Ibrahim Kamel, former Manpower and Immigration Minister Aisha Abdel Hady, and former MP and businessman Mohamed Abul Einein.
One of the defendants, former MP Abdel Nasser al-Gabry, died on 27 September from cancer.
