Cairo Criminal Court on Wednesday heard the defense of Hassan Abdel Rahman, the former head of the now-defunct State Security Investigation Services, as part of the ongoing trial of former officials on charges of ordering protesters killed last year.
Mohamed Hisham, Abdel Rahman’s lawyer, said infiltrators among protester ranks deliberately provoked the police force to push them into killing protesters, state-run news agency MENA reported.
Hisham said State Security warned that infiltrators could act irresponsibly against protesters to increase their anger toward the government and garner public sympathy for them. Abdel Rahman had sent a written note to all security directorates to this effect, according to his lawyer.
Established in 1961, State Security was widely hated and accused of using torture and other human rights abuses to suppress dissent against former President Hosni Mubarak’s nearly 30-year rule. The Interior Ministry announced the dissolution of State Security on 15 March in response to protests.
Hisham said Wednesday that information State Security received before the outbreak of the revolution confirmed planned protests would be peaceful, state-run news agency MENA reported. Based on this information, security directors were instructed to dispatch their forces wearing only helmets for protection, the lawyer said.
Mubarak attended the trial Wednesday after being absent Tuesday, reportedly because bad weather prevented the helicopter that transports him from the International Medical Center to the Police Academy from taking off, according to MENA. It was the first time he missed a court session since his trial began on 3 August.
Head Judge Ahmed Refaat gave the former president a summary of Tuesday’s proceedings, saying it had been established that bad weather prevented him from attending. Refaat told Mubarak that former Public Security Authority head Adly Fayed’s defense team continued arguing its case and denied the charge of pre-meditated murder, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram’s website reported.
Mubarak replied by saying, “Thank you, your honor.”
Fayed’s defense lawyer said Tuesday that the public prosecution had referred the defendant to trial even though he has nothing to do with the case. He and Abdel Rahman are among six former security officials on trial alongside Mubarak, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and Mubarak's two sons.
