Egypt

Mubarak trial: New appeals court judges to consider replacing judges

Cairo's Appeals Court on Sunday named new appeals court judges who will consider a request to replace the judges presiding over the trial of toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

On Saturday, the appeals court judges who had been considering the request excused themselves from making a decision, having held several sessions to discuss it since 26 September.

Counselor Abdel Moez Ibrahim, president of the Cairo Appeals Court, has set 3 November for the first session for the new judges to tackle the request.

The plaintiffs' lawyers had complained that the judges currently presiding over the trial, headed by Ahmed Refaat, did not allow them to interrogate key witness Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi properly.

The lawyers also accused Refaat of having worked as a consultant for the office of the deposed president.

The petition to replace the judges prompted Refaat to postpone the trial to 28 December on Sunday.

Legal experts say that if the appeals court approves the substitution, the new judges will have to restart the proceedings from scratch, but if it is turned down the trial will resume where it stopped.

Translated from the Arabic Edition

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