Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was back in court yesterday for a retrial on charges of complicity in the murder of protesters, reopening a case that has shown the difficulty of transitional justice in post-revolutionary Egypt.

The people want the butcher executed

Mubarak and his former Interior Minister Habib el-Adli were convicted and sentenced to life in prison last June for failing to stop the killing during the 2011 uprising that swept him from power. But a court ordered a retrial in January after accepting appeals from both the prosecution and the defence.

Each cited different shortcomings with a trial that was criticised for the weak evidence offered by the prosecution.

After a three-hour session broadcast live on state television, during which the charges were read and the prosecution made a statement, the proceedings were adjourned. The next hearing was set for June 8.

The prosecution promised to offer new evidence including some taken from the report of a fact-finding committee set up by President Mohamed Morsi in 2012.

The findings were not made public as promised by Morsi, but leaks published by Britain’s Guardian newspaper last month alleged the military was involved in torture, killings and forced disappearances during the uprising, which it denied.

Mubarak, 85, sat upright on a hospital gurney as he was wheeled into a cage where defendants appear. As he entered, some in the courtroom chanted: “The people want the butcher executed.”

Wearing aviator sunglasses, he raised his arm to confirm his presence as Judge Ahmed al-Rasheedy read a list of the accused and said: “Present.”

He waved his arm in denial when asked by the judge to respond to the charges.

His two sons, Alaa and Gamal, stood alongside him dressed in white prison uniforms. They face charges of corruption.

The retrial at a police academy on the outskirts of Cairo had been due to begin last month but was delayed when the previous judge recused himself.