CAIRO (Update 2) - A Cairo court Saturday has deferred the trial of Egypt's former Interior Minister Habib el-Adli and six of his top aides on charges of shooting dead peaceful protesters during the January 25 revolution, after scuffles between lawyers and policemen. Lawyers for the relatives of the victims killed during the 18-day protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak were up in arms, when policemen, lined up in front of the dock, blocked the defendants from view, an eyewitness told The Egyptian Gazette. He added that the lawyers called on Chief Justice Adel Abdel Salam Gomaa to order them away from the cage. "Gomaa ignored the request and ordered the hearing to continue," the witness said. Some of the lawyers then approached the security officers and started quarrelling with them, shouting: “Why are you protecting these thugs?!" Things became even more chaotic when some of the relatives of the victims tried to force their way into the courtroom. El-Adli, one of the most hated members of Mubarak's regime, because of the brutality of his police force, and the other defendants, all police generals, are accused of ordering the killing of 846 protesters during the recent revolution. The hearing started at 11am and lasted only several minutes, while Mahmoud el-Khodeiri, a lawyer for the martyrs, asked for the case to be heard by a new circuit, because of rumours about Chief Justice Gomaa. "Media reports about Gomaa's friendship with el-Adli should be examined by the authorities concerned. In the meantime, this case should be tried by another circuit," said el-Khodeir, himself a former judge, whose request was supported by some other lawyers. During the hearing, human rights lawyers demanded that Mubarak, in his capacity as the head of the Supreme Police Council, and former Minister of Information Anas el-Fiqi be added to the list of defendants. "The hearings will resume on June 26," the judge said, as he left the chaotic courtroom under heavy military police guard. El-Adli was sentenced earlier this month to 12 years in prison on separate charges of profiteering and money laundering. Outside the heavily guarded courtroom in New Cairo City, families of the victims held up pictures and posters of their dead relatives, calling for the death penalty for the defendants. They pushed down security barricades in their rush to enter the courtroom. Police were taken off the streets a few days after the revolution erupted on January 25. They had lost control and the Army was sent in. Although the police are back on patrol, their morale and grip on security has been weakened. El-Adli served as Mubarak's Interior Minister for 13 years, a time during which his 500,000-strong security force was blamed for some of the worst human rights violations Egypt had seen in decades. Anger over police brutality, particularly by members of the notorious State Security Agency, was a main motive for the uprising.
