Ex-President Mubarak's Trial Begins in Egypt

Hosni Mubarak resigned in February as President of Egypt, after 18 days of protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, in which some 850 people were killed. Photo by BGNES

The trial of former President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak is opening Wednesday in the capital, Cairo.

Mubarak, who was forced from office by mass demonstrations in February, is charged with corruption and ordering the killing of demonstrators - a charge that carries the death penalty.

His sons Alaa and Gamal, former Interior Minister, Habib al-Adly, and six former other officials are also defendants in the case.

Some 3 000 soldiers and police have been drafted in to maintain order at Cairo's Police Academy for the trial, BBC reports.

It was originally going to be held in a Cairo Convention Center, but for security reasons the authorities moved the venue to a temporary courtroom set up inside the academy.

600 people are expected to watch the proceedings and the defendants who will sit in a special cage.

Mubarak, 83, has been under arrest at a hospital in the coastal resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh since April. He resigned on February 11, after 18 days of protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, in which some 850 people were killed.

Mubarak's lawyer insists the former president is seriously ill.

It is a very tense moment for Egypt, and if Mubarak does not appear in court there could be serious confrontations on the streets, the BBC correspondent in Cairo informs.

The former Interior Minister, who is going on trial with Mubarak, was sentenced to 12 years in jail in May for money-laundering and profiteering.

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