After a break of nearly 100 days, the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six of the regime’s top security aides resumes Wednesday. State-owned Al-Ahram leads with the headline: “Surprises in Mubarak and Adly’s Trial: New evidence proves the involvement of police in killing protesters.”
According the report, in addition to submitting new evidence, the plaintiff’s legal team will request the testimony of a high ranking official in the Interior Ministry.
However, Al-Shorouk newspaper runs a contradictory report, claiming that new evidence has emerged that exonerates Mubarak. According to Yosri Abdel Razek, Mubarak’s lawyer and general coordinator for Mubarak’s Kuwaiti defense team, the defense has acquired new evidence related to recent clashes between security forces and protesters on Mohamed Mahmoud Street and Qasr al-Aini Street that will clear Mubarak of the crime of killing protesters during the 18-day uprising, reports Al-Shorouk.
“We were able to collect documents and eyewitness testimonials that prove the existence of three common factors between recent clashes and those that took place during the revolution: the kind of weapons used to kill protesters is the same as well as the locations of snipers and the method of provoking police and military forces,” said Abdel Razek.
After months of the military council blaming protester deaths and social unrest on a mysterious “third party” with a foreign agenda, state-run Al-Gomhurriya reports the arrest of three foreigners in Sinai under the headline: “…And the conspiracy is revealed.”
The paper says that the general prosecutor ordered the arrest of two Israeli-Arabs and a Ukrainian citizen on charges of illegally transporting weapons from Israel into Egypt through the Taba border crossing.
“Investigations revealed that the smuggled weapon is similar to those used by the police in Sinai, which indicates it could be used in illegal operations that are then blamed on the Egyptian army,” writes Al-Gomhurriya.
Those charged include a representative of an Israeli Tourism company, the owner of a Tourism company in addition to a Ukrainian citizen who is a manager of a Tourism company in Sharm el-Sheikh.
The Muslim Brotherhood rejected calls to accelerate the transfer of power from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to a civilian authority. The Freedom and Justice Party’s official newspaper leads with the front page headline: “After parliamentary elections: The constitution first, president second.”
“The Muslim Brotherhood completely rejects holding presidential elections before the constitution is drafted because this could result in the president being granted similar wide powers as those set out in the 1971. This would open the door for a dictator possibly worse than Mubarak,” said Rashad Bayoumy, a Brotherhood deputy.
The Brotherhood also dismissed calls by some political forces to appoint the head of the upcoming parliament as the temporary president until the presidential elections scheduled for June 2012.
“The Brotherhood states its decision: No to handing the presidency to the head of the People’s Assembly,” writes the state-run Al-Akhbar in its front-page headline.
Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood and member of its guidance bureau said that the group will respect the Constitutional Declaration which does not allow for appointing the head of the parliament as the president, reports Al-Akhbar.
Ghozlan added that if the head of parliament is made temporary president, the president could be a Muslim Brotherhood member, which contradicts their earlier promise of not fielding a candidate for the office.
Al-Shorouk publishes an interview with Mansour Hassan, head of the SCAF-appointed advisory council in which he confirms that the council will not interfere in any way with the formation of the constituent assembly that will draft the constitution, in response to ongoing confusion regarding the SCAF’s role in the constitution writing process.
“We agree with SCAF that the appointment of the constituent assembly will be the responsibility of the parliament,” said Hassan.
Egypt's papers:
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run
Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Youm7: Daily, privately owned
Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned
Freedom and Justice: Daily, published by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party
Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Nasserist Party
