CAIRO - For the third time now, a court has decided to suspend telecasting the trial of some members of Mubarak's regime, charged with wrongdoing while in office, including the squandering of public funds and the murder of unarmed demonstrators. The telecasting of the first two sessions of the trial of the toppled president, his two sons and former senior officials in the Ministry of the Interior helped restore public trust in the promises of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to bring them to justice. However, during the second session of Mubarak trial, Judge Ahmed Refaat decided to stop the telecasting of subsequent sessions, in order to maintain order in court. When the time came to subpoena the head of the SCAF head and some other senior officials in the ruling regime, the judge took the decision to hear their testimonies in camera on the pretext of safeguarding national security. Although one can appreciate this decision because of the sensitive position of these witnesses, the fact that their testimonies won't be made public will open the gate for rumours and assumptions, creating a 'thick fog' round the transitional period and the events that led to Mubarak's ousting. What makes this worse is the decision taken by another judge to suspend the telecasting of the case involving the so-called 'Battle of the Camel', when thugs on camels and horseback attacked the revolutionaries on January 28, killing and injuring tens of persons. Then the public woke up to the judge presiding over the case involving the export of natural gas to Israel deciding to suspend telecasting too. All this is deepening citizens' mistrust of the Government at this critical time; what makes it worse are the tough procedures being taken by the Government and the ruling Military Council to limit the freedom of the press and expression, on the pretext of safeguarding Egypt's security and dignity. Such procedures won't restore stability in the country; nor will they create a suitable climate for legislative and presidential elections.
