PBS Newshour 8/3/2011
"Hosni Mubarak, ousted Egyptian president, enters ‘not guilty’ plea from his gurney" by Ernesto Londono and Leila Fadel, Washington Post 8/3/2011
Excerpt
Nearly six months after he was forced from power, ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was wheeled into the cage of a Cairo courtroom Wednesday to be tried for allegedly ordering the killing of protesters this year.
The former autocrat’s appearance before a judge gripped millions of Egyptians, who are awestruck by the reversal of fortune of a man who for three decades ruled the Arab world’s most populous nation with an iron fist.
After the chief prosecutor read the charges, presiding Judge Ahmed Refaat asked Mubarak, who was lying on a gurney and looking sickly, to enter a plea.
“I deny all these charges and accusations categorically,” Mubarak said.
Mubarak is being tried alongside his sons Gamal and Alaa, who are charged with corruption. They also denied culpability. Former interior minister Habib al-Adli is also being tried in the case for allegedly ordering the killing of protesters.
Mubarak could be sentenced to death if convicted in the slaying of demonstrators. He also faces graft charges.
Wednesday’s court session included the presentation of pretrial motions, the reading of the charges and the entering of the not-guilty pleas. Refaat, the judge, then adjourned the Mubaraks’ trial until Aug. 15, saying he needed time to review the motions from the defense and lawyers representing relatives of slain protesters.
The judge said the elder Mubarak would be held at a nearby hospital until the trial resumes.
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