A former security official, who was a witness in the trial of deposed President Hosni Mubarak has said, he was “pressured” to change his testimony before the Cairo Criminal Court in September.

Hassan Abdel Hamid, who served as assistant to former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly,  said at a seminar at the Journalists Syndicate on Monday that he testified that Adly met with ministry leaders during the outbreak of the 25 January revolution, and they all agreed to “face the protesters with any means.”

Mubarak, Adly and six of his top aides are charged with killing demonstrators during the revolution, while Mubarak, his sons Alaa and Gamal and businessman Hussein Salem are charged with corruption and squandering public funds.

Abdel Hamid, who is known as “the ninth witness,” added that complaints were filed against others who were photographed attacking demonstrators during the revolution, but no action was taken against them. “They are still running the country,” he said, without disclosing their identities.

News reports quoted excerpts from Abdel Hamid’s testimony on 8 September, in which he said that he attended a meeting on 27 January when Adly ordered that Plan 100 be carried out. The plan was designed for cases of extreme emergency and public disorder.

Abdel Hamid said he had objected to the plan at the meeting given the large number of people in the streets, but Adly ignored his objections and transferred him to another post.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm