CAIRO - Egypt's Interior Minister Wednesday gave his testimony in a closed session of the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak, charged with complicity in killing protesters in the revolution against his rule, as a defendant was ordered to stay away from court in another trial of 25 former regime's key officials tried in the "Battle of the Camel". Interior Minister Mansour el-Issawi testified in a session that last three hours and a half as his predecessor Mahmoud Wagdi will give his testimony today, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. According to a previous decision by chief justice, journalists are barred from attending or even reporting accounts of what was said in the sessions where key officials are testifying The witnesses are expected to address whether Mubarak ordered police forces to use lethal force against protesters or did nothing to prevent bloodshed. Around 850 protesters were killed during the 18-day uprising. The court, located in the Police Academy in New Cairo, will resume its sessions today as Wagdi is set to give his word on setting ablaze documents by the ill-famed State Security. Meanwhile, another court in New Cairo heard the testimony of prosecution's witnessed in the Battle of the Camel trial, where former chairman of the Shura Council Safwat el-Sherif and Speaker of the People's Assembly Ahmed Fathi Sorour are standing trial for inciting violence against protesters. Chief Justice Moustafa Hassan Abdallah ordered Mortada Mansour, a defendant and an ex-judge, to stay away from this session and the next sessions of his trial after he insulted a witness during the trial. "Mortada used to interrupt the court and the witnesses. He is barred from attending the trial from now on," said judge Abdallah, who was in vain approached by some other lawyers to reverse his decision. A witness had insulted Mansour saying he is a big thug when he shouted at him saying: "Behave yourself. I'm not a thug. You are a liar." The judge then ordered a halt to the trial for quarter an hour ordering police to get Mansour out of the court. The witness then said he would file a lawsuit against Mansour and asked for an LE50,000 in compensation for his insult. One of the lawyers for those killed during the revolution requested that former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, Interior Minister el-Essawi and forrmer interior minister Wagdi be summoned to testify as well as adding Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal, as defendants in the "Battle of the Camel" trial on the the basis of investigations into their involvement in killing protesters. The same lawyer asked that the trial be combined with those Mubarak and former interior minister Habib el-Adli on charges related to killing protesters.
