Police witness charged in Hosni Mubarak’s trial

A police officer in court as a witness in Egypt’s ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s trial was charged with giving “false testimony” yesterday, following accusations in the Egyptian media of a cover-up.

The chief judge at the trial said he has summoned high-profile witnesses including military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to testify behind closed doors for reasons of “national security”.

Prosecutor Mostafa Suleiman said police captain Mohammed Abdel Hakim was charged with giving “false testimony in favour of the accused” in the case over the killing of hundreds of protesters in Egypt’s January-February revolution.

He said Mr Hakim testified in court that anti-riot units deployed in Cairo on January 28 had been equipped with blank ammunition and tear gas, whereas he had said in previous questioning that hunting ammunition had been used.

Sixty-two people were reportedly killed in clashes between security forces and demonstrators that day.

Earlier in the hearing, lawyers for families of dead protesters filed requests to question the ousted President’s wife, Suzanne, and the country’s army chief.

At the last court session on Monday, none of the witnesses who gave evidence implicated Mr Mubarak or his Interior Minister Habib al-Adly for the deaths during the revolution against his three decades of autocratic rule. The latest hearing was the fourth in the trial which opened on August 3 and, unlike the first two sessions, the process has been taken behind closed doors and off-camera.

Mohamed el-Damati, a representative of the families’ lawyers in civil cases, filed to question Mr Tantawi, to whom Mr Mubarak handed power on his ouster in February, and Suzanne Mubarak.

Mr Tantawi was Defence Minister for two decades under the veteran President.

The lawyers have said they also want to question former intelligence chief General Omar Suleiman who is reported to have said Mr Mubarak was aware of each bullet fired during the revolution. Chief judge Ahmed Refaat said he has summoned Mr Tantawi to testify on Sunday.

The head of the general staff, Sami Anan, would give evidence on Monday and former intelligence chief and Vice President Suleiman on Tuesday, also behind closed doors. Interior Minister Mansur al-Essawi and a predecessor, Mahmud Wagdi, will testify on September 14 and 15 respectively, the judge added.

Judge Refaat said he had decided to hear the high-profile witnesses in camera for reasons of “national security”.

The case against the ousted President and six of his security chiefs suffered another blow on Monday when it emerged that the prosecution’s main witness had been convicted of destroying a recording of police telephone calls.