Cairo – Egypt’s highest Appeals Court on Thursday adjourned the retrial of former President Hosni Mubarak until January 2016 on charges related to protester killings in an uprising that ended his rule.
The Court of Cassation said the procedures would be postponed to Jan. 21 to allow time for authorities to provide another venue for the trial.
The decision was announced shortly after the start of the retrial’s first session at the court building in Central Cairo.
Heavy fog and security concerns prevented the transfer of Mubarak from a military hospital on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital to the court building.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
The Interior Ministry asked the court to transfer the retrial to a highly secured makeshift courtroom at the Police Academy outside Cairo.
In 2014, a lower court dismissed charges brought against Mubarak over the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolution that forced him to step down after nearly 30 years in power.
In June, the Court of Cassation granted an appeal by the chief prosecutor against the dismissal of the charges and ordered a retrial for Mubarak.
The retrial marks the third and final stage of the legal process, while its verdict would be irreversible.
Mubarak was convicted in 2012 of failing to prevent the killing of protesters but that ruling was overturned on appeal and a retrial ordered.
The 87-year-old had mostly lived at an army hospital since his ousting. (dpa/NAN)