The Giza Criminal Court on Tuesday adjourned to 7 February the trial of 13 policemen accused of killing protesters outside the Imbaba and Kerdasa police stations in the north of Cairo during the 25 January uprising. The decision was taken due to the absence of a judge, who had been assigned to the task of assisting with the supervision of the third round of parliamentary elections.
The defendants are charged with “killing six people and injuring 18 others by shooting unknown persons attempting to break into the two police stations."
During the planned Tuesday session, the court was due to hear the prosecution witnesses.
During a previous session, a confrontation broke out between the victims’ relatives and the defense team. The relatives threatened that if the defendants were not detained by the authorities, they would organize a sit-in outside the Maspero state TV building, while one of the prosecutors described the defendants as having committed “grand treason."
The case concerns events that took place on 28 and 29 January 2011, when 860 people died, some of whom were killed outside police stations, after confrontations between the police and protestors.
On Thursday, an Egyptian court acquitted six policemen accused of killing protestors outside the Sayeda Zeinab police station in downtown Cairo.
In related news, the trial of ousted President Hosni Mubarak resumed on Tuesday at the Cairo Criminal Court, and was adjourned to Wednesday. On Tuesday, the court heard the prosecution's case, which is set to conclude on Thursday.
Mubarak, as well as former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six of Adly’s aides, face charges of ordering security forces to fire on protesters during the 25 January uprising. The former president, his sons Alaa and Gamal, and businessman Hussein Salem also stand trial on various corruption charges.
The trial reconvened last Wednesday after a three-month hiatus, but Cairo Criminal Court adjourned the hearings until Tuesday after the prosecution was asked to submit a list of those killed or injured since the beginning of the 25 January revolution, as well as reports and investigations regarding the killings.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
