Police officer accused of lying at Mubarak trial

EGYPTIAN prosecutors accused a police officer of giving false testimony yesterday in a heated session in the trial of Hosni Mubarak over his role in the killing of protesters.

Lawyers acting for families of some of the 850 people killed in the uprising that ousted the Egyptian president earlier this year have complained that some police witnesses changed their accounts and accused the prosecution of failing to build a strong case.

Mubarak, 83, who has been in hospital since April, has attended the trial on a stretcher inside a defendants’ cage in court. He is charged with conspiring to kill protesters and “inciting” officers to use live ammunition.