Former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli said during investigations before the military prosecution that he was not responsible for a decision to kill protesters.
Al-Adli is accused of ordering live ammunition to be used on protesters on 28 January, and subsequently ordering police to withdraw from the streets, as well as allowing prisoners to escape in order to intimidate ordinary citizens.
Around 300 protesters were killed and another 5000 injured during protests which swept the country starting 25 January and led to the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February.
Al-Adli’s lawyer Ahmed Ganzouri, speaking to Al-Masry Al-Youm, said the defendant presented documents showing that his assistants in charge of public security and the Cairo security department had misinformed him, presenting false reports. Therefore, according to Ganzouri, al-Adli instructed his assistants to deal with the protesters according to the reports they gave him.
Ganzouri added that the military prosecution has yet to officially charge al-Adli, pointing out that the prosecution has neither arrested nor released al-Adli, who is under house arrest.
There will be more surprises in the upcoming days, said Ganzouri. The minister’s assistants for public security and Cairo Security Department were dismissed, according to Ganzouri, who told Al-Masry Al-Youm that al-Adli has asked the prosecution for the chance to present new documents which "will prove his innocence."
Meanwhile, judicial sources said al-Adli has asked for a face-to-face meeting with his assistants, Ismail al-Shaaer, Adli Fayed and Hassan abdel Rahman, before prosecution but some of them refused and prosecution did not respond to al Adli's request.
