Egypt

Plaintiff lawyer wants former officials summoned in ‘Battle of the Camel’ trial

Cairo Criminal Court on Wednesday resumed the trial of 25 suspects for the February "Battle of the Camel" attacks on Tahrir protesters.

One of the plaintiffs' lawyers requested that former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy and forrmer Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy be summoned to testify.

Shafiq, Egypt's longest serving Air Force commander during Mubarak's tenure, was appointed prime minister on 29 January. Nearly two months later, he was forced to resign due to popular pressure. 

The same lawyer asked that the trial be combined with those of ex-President Hosni Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly on charges related to killing protesters.

He also requested Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal, be added as suspects in the "Battle of the Camel" trial on the the basis of investigations into their involvement in killing protesters.

Judge Mostafa Abdallah ordered Mortada Mansour, one of the accused, removed from the courtroom after he interrupted a prosecution witness. The witness was testifying that he saw Mansour standing in the middle of a group of "thugs" in Tahrir during the attacks.

Mansour shouted to the court, "Respect yourself, I'm not a thug.”

Mansour tried to apologize to the judge, but was ejected from the courtroom for repeatedly interrupting witnesses.

Translated from the Arabic Edition

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