Continuing delays in the trial of Hosni Mubarak send a mixed message to the public, reports Gamal Essam El-Din Cairo's Appeal Court decided on 22 October to delay hearing demands to change the panel presiding over the trial of ousted President Hosni Mubarak until 26 December. The postponement of the trial came after lawyers representing families of those killed during the revolution accused presiding judge Ahmed Rifaat of bias in favour of Mubarak and other defendants, including his sons Alaa and Gamal, his business associate Hussein Salem, former interior minister Habib El-Adli and six security chiefs. The lawyers allege that Rifaat had been previously employed by the presidency. Their petition also notes that Rifaat's brother, Essam, former editor of the weekly economic magazine Al-Ahram Al-Iqtisadi was a leading member of Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud, one of the lawyers representing victims' families, says "Rifaat's brother was a member of the NDP's influential Policies Committee led by Mubarak's son and heir apparent, Gamal" claiming it constitutes sufficient evidence of a conflict of interests. Cairo's Appeal Court said on 22 October that it required time to review judge Rifaat's record and background and properly assess whether he provided consultancy services for the presidency or government under Mubarak's rule. Lawyers of the victims' families also say Rifaat was employed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Higher Council for Pricing Services (HCPC). "Rifaat's brother Essam was a member of the HCPC, alongside Hussein Salem, one of the defendants in Mubarak's trial," says Abdel-Maqsoud. Lawyers have also accused Rifaat of refusing to allow them sufficient time to question Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Cairo's Appeal Court says it has requested the minutes of Mubarak's trial to check the "impartiality of judges and the legality of court proceedings". Diaa Rashwan, director of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, points out that "if the Appeal Court comes to the conclusion the judicial panel presiding over Mubarak's trial should be changed the whole proceeding will have to start again." Rashwan believes there are "political reasons" behind the delay in resuming the trial, and that it may well be postponed further. "Resuming the trial during the elections will adversely affect an already febrile political climate. It would be better to delay the trial until the People's Assembly elections are over." Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice's Illicit Gains Office (IGO) decided on 16 October to freeze the assets of the Mubarak family and other former regime figures. IGO Chairman Assem El-Gohari said on 17 October that the decision was taken after Swiss authorities disclosed that Mubarak's two sons -- Alaa and Gamal -- had deposits of $340 million in Swiss bank accounts. Most of the sum, $300 million, is held by Alaa. There have long been rumours that Alaa, Mubarak's older son, elbowed his way into lucrative business partnerships by offering a mixture of threats and incentives to reluctant partners. El-Gohari said Switzerland was now investigating allegations that Alaa Mubarak, along with former minister of tourism Zoheir Garana and fugitive businessman Yassin Mansour, were part of a "criminal gang" who basically laundered money. El-Gohari also said Alaa and Gamal held secret accounts in banks in the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus and Hong Kong, own a large number of shares in a bullion company based in Cyprus and that Gamal's wife, Khadiga, owns a Paris flat valued at $12 million. Prosecution authorities accuse Gamal and Alaa of exercising pressure to force businessmen, especially members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo, to sign partnership agreements with them. Farid El-Deeb, the Mubaraks' lawyer, reacted furiously to El-Gohari's announcement. "What he said about the Mubarak sons' assets in Switzerland was not new. Alaa and Gamal disclosed details of the accounts during questioning by prosecution authorities last May." El-Deeb says Gamal told prosecutors in May that the bulk of the money he held in Switzerland was made while he was working with the Bank of America in London between 1992 and 1998. El-Deeb accused El-Gohari of violating IGO regulations by making a public announcement of prosecution and the IGO's own findings. In response, El-Gohari said IGO regulations allow information about the assets of any accused persons to be made public once there was sufficient evidence to suggest the accused had accrued the assets illicitly. El-Gohari also estimated the wealth of Hussein Salem, Mubarak's business associate, at LE24 billion, and revealed that Salem and his family had been able to move their wealth out of Egypt during the six months that followed Mubarak's ouster.
