Cairo, August 03: A plane set to transfer Egypt’s former ruler Hosni Mubarak to the capital Cairo to stand trial has arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh where he has been under arrest in a hospital since April.
“The aircraft that will take Mubarak to the police academy has landed in Sharm el-Sheikh,” Egypt’s public television said on Wednesday.
The trial of Mubarak who was forced to resign in February has been a key demand of protesters, AFP reported.
Mubarak is charged with corruption and ordering the killing of protesters — a charge that carries the death penalty.
The trial was previously scheduled to be held in a Cairo convention center but it was later decided to hold the session in a temporary courtroom set up in the police academy.
Mubarak’s sons Alaa and Gamal, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli and six other officials from the toppled regime will be present at the trial on Wednesday.
Lawyers of the ousted ruler have frequently reported that Mubarak’s health conditions are deteriorating in what activists call an effort to evade the trial. Egypt’s health ministry recently announced that Mubarak is well enough to face the trial.
A fact-finding commission investigating the violence against the protesters in Egypt says more than 800 demonstrators were killed in the demonstrations.
Egypt’s judicial officials say Mubarak could be executed if found guilty of ordering to shoot anti-government protesters.
——Agencies