A complete media blackout served only to fuel fevered speculation about what Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi really said at the trial of his former boss, Hosni Mubarak. Gamal Essam El-Din reports Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the interim ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), and Egypt's de facto ruler, gave evidence in the trial of Hosni Mubarak on 24 September. The court's insistence that the man who is effectively Mubarak's successor as head of state appear in court is praiseworthy. Unfortunately, Tantawi's appearance has caused more uproar than applause. Following his testimony lawyers for the families of protesters killed during the 25 January Revolution said they had lost confidence in the judges trying Mubarak, his two sons, and seven former security chiefs and announced they would petition for a fresh trial before a different judicial panel. The news prompted presiding judge Ahmed Rifaat to suspend further hearings until 30 October. The Cairo's Appeal Court on Tuesday said it will decide on 22 October whether the lawyers' petition will be accepted. Tantawi's court appearance was always going to be highly charged. He arrived in a military vehicle as hundreds of Mubarak supporters, as well as the families of those killed during the revolution, were gathered in front of the heavily guarded Cairo Police Academy where the trial is being held. Journalists and television cameras were barred from the courtroom. Tantawi's testimony lasted for 80 minutes, during which he answered 26 questions from the presiding judge and defence lawyers. Legal representatives of the families of the victims missed the bulk of Tantawi's evidence. They were, lawyer Amir Salem told Al-Ahram Weekly, "kept outside the courtroom by policemen who forced us to comply with stringent security measures". "The result was that we missed more than 50 minutes of Tantawi's testimony." That Mubarak's own lawyers were able to hear Tantawi's testimony from the start left victims' lawyers furious. "It displays a complete bias on the part of the judges towards Mubarak and the other defendants," said Salem. "We believe that the lawyers of the families of the victims were deliberately prevented from attending Tantawi's testimony from the beginning." Several lawyers, he adds, were beaten by military police. And when they were eventually allowed into the court, none of the families' lawyers were permitted by Rifaat to direct questions to Tantawi. The families of victims, who have been forced to depend on their lawyers for an account of what happens in court, were left completely in the dark over what Tantawi -- chief witness in the trial of the man accused of ordering the killing of their loved ones -- actually said. "I was standing outside the Police Academy and suddenly someone told me that the media had announced Tantawi had already delivered his testimony and left," the father of one victim told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I wonder when he came and why things were kept so secret." The court session, the 12th since 3 August, began at 8am, two hours earlier than normal, and ended an hour and a half later, before most lawyers had even arrived at the courtroom. Compared to the testimony of other leading witnesses, including former chief of General Intelligence Omar Suleiman, Tantawi's stint on the witness stand was surprisingly brief. Mubarak arrived at the courtroom by helicopter. Questioned by prosecutors last May, the 83-year-old former president denied that he had given orders to open fire on protesters. "Tantawi was a confidante of Mubarak's for decades and a close friend. I don't think he would give evidence implicating the man who promoted him to the highest military position 20 years ago," said one victims' father. Mubarak could face the death penalty if convicted. The evidence presented against him so far, however, is reported to have been weak. Western newspapers allege that Tantawi cannot provide any conclusive evidence about Mubarak's role in ordering the violence, arguing that he was absent from the relevant meetings. This contradicts what Tantawi himself told a graduation ceremony at the Police Academy last April. In his own words: "We [the 25 members of the SCAF] were asked to open fire on protesters and united against the request". Tantawi's deputy, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sami Anan, scheduled to testify before the court on 25 September, has yet to deliver his testimony in Mubarak's trial. The circumstances in which Tantawi gave evidence led Salem to claim that "a majority of the public now believes the trial is being manipulated in order to acquit Mubarak and his sons".
