Egypt delays verdict in Mubarak case

An Egyptian court postponed to November 29 its verdict on whether former president Hosni Mubarak ordered the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his three-decade rule.

Before adjourning the hearing on Saturday, the judge said he and members of the prosecution team had not finished reviewing all the evidence in the case, which amounted to 160,000 pages.

Mubarak, 86, his interior minister Habib al-Adly and six other senior security officers are accused of ordering the killings of more than 800 protesters, sowing chaos and creating a security vacuum during the 18-day revolt. They deny the charges. The former strongman and Adly were both sentenced to life in prison in 2012 after being convicted in the case but an appeals court subsequently ordered a retrial. His overthrow led to Egypt’s first free leadership election but the winner, Mohamed Mursi, was ousted last year by the army and some Mubarak-era figures have since been released, raising fears among activists that the old regime was regaining influence.

Outside the court at the Cairo police academy, his supporters gathered, carrying pictures of the former airforce commander and chanting slogans demanding his release.

Families of those killed by security forces during the uprising also came to protest. Mubarak is unlikely to be freed, however.

Though he has been given bail in this case, he is already serving a separate three-year sentence for embezzlement at a military hospital in Cairo. The court ordered that Adly stay in custody pending the verdict.