April 13, 2013 (TSR- Xinhua) – The retrial of Egypt’s former President Hosni was adjourned shortly after the court reopened the case Saturday as presiding judge Mustafa Hassan Abdullah withdrew from the case “due to feeling of uneasiness” and referred it to Cairo Court of Appeal to assign a different court.
Walid al-Shahhat, lawyer of one of the former security officials who attended the brief session, told Xinhua that the case was adjourned “indefinitely” until a new court is chosen.
“The claimants caused a state of disorder inside the courtroom as they rejected the presiding judge because he formerly acquitted ex-regime officials in a similar case,” Shahhat added.
Hundreds of security men surrounded the Police Academy headquarters on the outskirts of Cairo where the court session was held, and its gate separated dozens of supporters and opponents of the 84-year-old ousted president.
A number of mothers and relatives of young people killed during the 2011 upheaval gathered at one side of the gate, holding up large posters of the victims and demanding retaliation.
“I just want retaliation for my son so he could rest in peace,” mother of 20-year-old victim Muhab Ali Hassan tearfully told Xinhua, accusing Mubarak of being responsible for the murder of her son, who was a student of a computer science college.
Shams Gamal, a 14-year-old girl, raised a poster of her uncle Mohamed Saber, 26, a taxi driver who was killed during the revolt, and his 5-year-old orphaned son Yassin.
“I am here to demand the right of my uncle who sacrificed himself for the country. I want punishment for Mubarak and his corrupt men,” she said.
The victim’s sister Duaa Saber explained that her brother was killed on “the Friday of Anger,” referring to Jan. 28, 2011, noting the family members of victims pin hope on the new evidence submitted by the fact-finding commission to convict Mubarak and his aides.
On the other side of the gate, dozens of Mubarak’s supporters held up posters of the ex-president and shouted slogans demanding his acquittance and release.
Mohamed Zaki, a member of the group “Mubarak’s Children,” brought a large bust of the former president that attracted other supporters to take photos with it.
“That was a gift from Mubarak’s Children to show our solidarity with him,” Zaki said, stressing they did not belong to any opposition movements or parties.
“I am here to support and honor President Mubarak, as time proved he did not order the killing of protesters and that Egypt has been deteriorating since he resigned,” Salma Ibrahim, a housewife and mother of two university graduate daughters, told Xinhua.
“He will be acquitted, God willing, and we’ll honor him and show him our love and respect,” Ibrahim added, blaming President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood supporters for the country’s “worsening conditions.”
Some of Mubarak’s supporters distributed white T-shirts with Mubarak’s picture and the slogan “You are in the heart, Mubarak” on it, while some others wrote on the ground “We miss you Mubarak! ”
Upon hearing the news of the withdrawal of the presiding judge, skirmishes started between Mubarak’s supporters and opponents outside the court, yet the deployed security men contained the situation before it could develop into clashes.
The ambulance authority also deployed 20 ambulances in case of any clashes between the two sides.
“We also have an A-class ambulance with a doctor to deal with emergency cases on the spot and we raised the degree of alert at nearby hospitals just in case,” Mohamed Abdel-Salam, general supervisor at the ambulance authority, told Xinhua.
After the retrial was adjourned, Mubarak was taken by a “flying hospital” helicopter from the court to the military hospital in Cairo where tens of supporters who gathered outside the hospital in support of the ousted president.
Mubarak has been serving life imprisonment for involvement in the deaths of protesters in January 2011 upheaval until Cairo Court of Appeal decided on March 3 to retry the former president, his two sons, the interior minister and six top security officials.
